Hermione Granger and the Sorcerer's Stone
by Musicfreak09
Summary: Hermione's first year at Hogwarts through her P.O.V.
1. Prelude

**Author's Note: I've had this story in my head for a while now so I finally decided to write it. I'm not J.K. Rowling, but I tried to follow the storyline exactly based off the book and movie and make Hermione sound as Hermione-ish as possible. This is Hermione's first year at Hogwarts from her p.o.v. Hope you like it. **

**P.S. I do not own Harry Potter**

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Hermione Granger took a deep breath and tried to relax while also trying to ignore the butterflies flying around in her stomach. She had to keep reminding herself that this _was _real, that she _was _a witch and would soon be on a train that would take her to a school where not only would they teach her how to control her magic, but teach her new and different types of magic as well.

"And all in a few short hours" she thought sitting in the backseat of her parent's car as they drove her to King's Cross Station.

She knew this was going to be the beginning of a new life for her. No longer was she 'that weird, nerdy Granger girl'. And she finally understood why she made Ivy Truckle break out in painful boils after she made Hermione cry because she was always teasing her, or why she accidently turned Mrs. Parker's cat blue, or the countless other little mishaps no one could explain. She never knew how she made these things happen, but she knew she was the cause of why they did. "Not this time", she thought. This time she was going to be accepted and make real friends; not like some of the other girls who pretended to be her friend until either their grades went up or they got an A+ on some assignment and didn't need Hermione's brains anymore. Then she went back to being that nerdy, bookworm girl no one really cared for. And Hermione-being the practical girl she is-decided she didn't need those girls, she had her books and that was all she needed, and besides her primary teachers absolutely adored her.

But now…this was a new page and a new chapter in her life.

"We're here darling." Said her mother looking over her shoulder, while her father parked the car.

Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Yes, this was the start of a new life for her. And she was ready.

**Chapter 1 coming soon**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter**

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Chapter 1

"Now you're absolutely sure about this, sweetheart?" asked Hermione's mum, a hand on her shoulder. Yes, she was.

She nodded bravely.

"And your sure you don't want us to walk you to the platform or to the train?" asked her father his arm around his wife.

She nodded again, scared that if she opened her mouth she might start crying. She had held her mother's hand the whole distance between where they parked the car to in- between platforms 9 and 10. She wasn't scared about not finding the right platform. She had already been informed how to reach platform 9 ¾ by walking straight into the barrier between nine and ten. She had also been informed that there would many people available to answer any questions, or help with luggage if needed, so she needn't worry about that.

She shook her head and mentally composed herself. This was the adventure of a lifetime.

"I'll be fine. Please don't worry too much." She said, giving her parent's a small smile. "I think I have to do this on my own."

Her parents smiled and nodded, understanding their daughter. They were very proud of her, and knew she was extremely mature for her age. And even though they would have preferred her to be closer to home, they couldn't crush her dreams or hold her back. They saw how happy this whole magic thing made her.

She watched as her parents composed themselves a little better and hugged her mother tight.

"Be good, darling. I love you and remember any time you want to come home…"

"I know mum. Don't worry. And besides, I'll be home for Christmas."

She hugged her father next.

"Keep up those study habits, but don't study too hard. Have some fun too. And write… often. Everyday would be nice." He kissed the top of her head as she pulled away.

"You're going to be fine." said her mother smiling.

Hermione gave one more quick wave, took a deep breath, and started walking toward the barrier which eventually turned into a jog. The wall was coming closer, and even though she knew she wouldn't hit it, it was still scary. "Please go through, please go through," she thought. She closed her eyes and waited for the crash that never came.

She opened her eyes, and almost couldn't believe what she saw. She smiled as she read the sign closest to her: _Hogwarts Express; Platform 9 3/4 11 o'clock. _

The clock right next to it said it was only 10:30 but already it seemed the whole platform was packed. Hermione kind of shoved her way through with her trolley and luggage. There was so much to see and hear, and all the commotion!

"Excuse me miss. First year?" a voiced asked behind her.

She whipped around to find a young man probably somewhere in his 20's wearing a uniform that made it obvious he was part of the train crew.

"Um, y-yes." said Hermione nervously.

He smiled. "Have you got a compartment yet, miss?"

"Um, no. Not yet."

"Not a problem. Follow me; I'm sure we can find you an empty one, unless you're looking for anyone?"

"No. Any compartment's fine."

She watched him grab her trolley and they boarded the train. Kids it were running up and down the corridor, while other, older students greeted old classmates and talked about their summer. The man stopped in front a door and opened it to find an empty compartment.

"Will this do?" he asked kindly.

"Yes. This is fine." She answered, wondering if he could her voice kind of shaking.

She watched him put her luggage in the luggage rack above her, bid her farewell and good year at Hogwarts, before leaving to probably help another student. She looked around the compartment before sitting down. Now excitement was starting to take over the nervousness and fear. She suddenly got hit with a giggly, giddiness, girly type emotion, which _never_ happened to her because she thought that type of behavior was childish and foolish.

"Focus, Hermione." She told herself. "Remember, this is your education. You must take this very seriously, if you want to prove you are here to learn."

She thought back to when the witch who explained everything about the wizarding world to her, explained about the rules at Hogwarts and what she expects from the students. Hermione couldn't remember her name, she had been too excited, but she knew she was a professor, as well as the Headmistress and was not one to cross. She explained that Hogwarts was renowned for its education and students and that it took the learning of magic very seriously and would not tolerate any foolishness, or silliness. Afterword, Hermione swore to herself that she was going to be one of the best students if not _the_ best.

"I better read a bit more then." She told herself. She was terrified she would be extremely far behind since she was a Muggle-born. She decided to change into her robes. She was already wearing her uniform, and thought it was the most practical thing to do.

After she had on her robes, she looked at the bag she had brought with her that was holding a few of her books, while the others remained in her trunk. Even though she had already memorized the books they needed for class she still felt terrified she wouldn't know anything. She was ruffling through her bag trying to decide which book to start with until it suddenly dawned on her that she could officially do magic now, and it wouldn't be illegal. She could finally practice all those spells she read about, not large ones of course, but small simple ones. She delicately pulled out her wand, still amazed at it; 10.5 inches of vine wood and the core being a dragon heartstring. She couldn't decide what spell she wanted to try first. She decided she would close her eyes stick her hand in her bag and the first book she chose would be the one she would do a spell out of. She stuck her hand in and chose her Charms book. Smiling she closed her eyes and flipped through the pages. Whichever page she stopped on would be the first spell she had ever done. She stopped flipping and opened her eyes, smiling at the spell that she randomly chose.

_Reparo_

_One of the most useful spells in any witch or wizards' daily lives is reparo. The spell reparo will repair any normal everyday object that has been broken. It is most commonly used on small things such as vases, torn clothes, dishes and silverware, and pieces of furniture. Even though Reparo will fix almost anything there are some limits within its repairing ability. Reparo cannot fix something that was broken by powerful dark magic, has a magic charm already on it, broken wands, and it cannot heal any form of wound. _

_The wand movement for Reparo is one of the basic Charm wand movements. Point directly at the object you wish to repair and say 'reparo'. You may also use the elementary want movement: swish and flick. Even though just the incantation reparo will fix mostly anything many witches and wizards will also use a more specific incantation on commonly broken stuff to make sure the item they want repaired is repaired and not another object. _

_Example: For broken eye-glasses; "Oculus reparo." _

_These more specific incantations can be useful but are not necessary and many people pick them up over time. _

Hermione finished reading and looked around for something she could fix magically. There wasn't much. She knew she wouldn't rip her clothes, or any part of the compartment she was in, but was having an extremely hard time finding anything to break in the first place. She looked back down at her book, then got an idea. She flipped to the very last page of the book, where all it was a blank sheet of parchment. Hermione feeling a little guilty ripped it clean down the middle and stopped just before she spilt the page in half. Grabbing her wand she closed her eyes to concentrate, and pointed her wand at the torn page.

"Reparo." She said pointing her wand. Her eyes lit up as she saw the page fit back together as though she had never ripped it. Feeling confident, now she decided to try a few more spells. She eventually was able to lock and unlock and open and close her compartment door, repair torn book pages, (and she assumed other things as well once she found something to break) and make small things levitate quite high in the air, and all without getting out of her seat. She settled back in her seat proud of herself and looked out the window at the passing landscape.

"Holy cricket, we're moving." She said quietly. She was so absorbed in trying the spells she must've not felt the train take off. She slid open the compartment door, (magically of course) and was about to explore the train a bit more when she saw a couple of kids run by giggling. "How childish." She thought rolling her eyes and sitting back down. She pulled out some of her other school books to brush up on the material- just in case. After some time she put away _Beginner's Guide to Potions _and pulled out her copy of _Hogwarts, A History_.

She was absolutely in love with that book. She knew if Hogwarts was even half as good as the book made it sound Hermione would be heaven. A few minutes after she had begun reading she began to feel antsy. She really wanted to explore a bit, but didn't want to deal with all the silliness going on in the corridor.

"I'll just leave the door open." she decided with simple swish and flick. "And if it looks like the silliness has died down I'll go explore a little."

She couldn't have been more than 15 minutes into the book when she heard a trolley roll by and old lady asking her if she'd like something off the trolley.

"Anything off the trolley dear?"

Hermione got up and looked over the trolley merchandise. It was full of sweets and candies that she knew had to be full of sugar and that her parents would be horrified if they knew Hermione actually ate some. Of course this _was_ a special occasion, and she had mastered a few of her beginner spells, and since she was part of the wizarding world now why shouldn't she experience its culture? In the end the reasoning in her head won and she bought a pumpkin pasty, and some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. She had read about those and thought they would be interesting to try.

Nibbling on her pumpkin pasty she settled back in her seat and started to read where she left off. However, before she could get far she heard a voice outside the compartment.

"Um. Sorry, but have you, um seen my toad by chance?" asked a plump boy peering in her compartment.

"No. I'm sorry I haven't but…"

"Oh. I can't believe I've lost him again. I just only had him too." whined the boy pitifully.

Hermione seeing an opportunity to explore the train and maybe make a friend, even if he did seem somewhat pitiful, was too much of an opportunity to ignore.

"I'll help you look." She said in a somewhat bossy, know-it-all voice.

"Oh no. That's fine. I'm sure he'll pop up." said the boy. He really just wanted to go back to his compartment he had already searched the train twice.

"No, really. I want to help look. Besides, I need to get out of this compartment for a bit."

The boy watched as she put her book back in her bag, set the bag on the floor next to her seat followed him out of the compartment, took out her wand and said a spell he didn't know.

"You can do magic already?" asked the boy in awe.

Hermione smiled. "Well, just a little. But I'm sure after school starts…" she was very proud that she had impressed him with her little bit of magic. "By the way, I think it would be best in we introduced ourselves. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Um, Neville Longbottom." He said quietly. He didn't want to admit it but this witch scared him a little.

"Pleasure to meet you, Neville." She said starting to walk down the corridor. Neville slowly followed.

Hermione asked about Neville's toad in few compartments and received the same answer each time.

"Don't worry Neville. We'll find him." She told him in a voice that didn't really sound like she cared much. She was about to start her search again when overheard a conversation between two older students walking down the corridor.

"Honestly, really?" asked one of the girls to her friend. "You actually saw him."

"Honestly, yes. Harry Potter is on the train. I didn't personally see him but the Weasley twins did."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. Harry Potter. _The _Harry Potter? She had read all about him. He defeated of the most darkest and evil of wizards when he was just a baby. The wizard was so evil, powerful, and scary that the magical world didn't even call him by his name. Instead they called him You-Know-Who. He had killed and tortured countless wizards, witches, and Muggles, and yet little baby Harry was the only wizard _ever_ to survive the killing curse. The evil wizard completely died and all Harry received was a lighting shaped scar on his forehead. He was an absolute hero in the wizarding world, and she would most definitely have to meet him.

After a couple of minutes of no success at finding Neville's toad Neville told her that it didn't matter and that they should probably get back to their compartment.

"Nonsense. We'll find him. Maybe if we split up we might him faster." Hermione replied airily moving on to the next compartment, Neville following reluctantly behind her.

"What house do suppose you'll be in Neville?" asked Hermione curiously. Hermione thought Gryffindor sounded the best, then Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, then lastly Slytherin. She really hoped she wasn't sorted into Slytherin. She didn't like the sound of it much from what little she had read about it, and its past history was rather disturbing as well. She doubted it though; it was extremely rare for a Muggle born to be sorted into Slytherin.

"I don't know exactly. My parents and grandparents were in Gryffindor so I would like to be placed there."

"Me too. I think it sounds the best." Hermione responded. She didn't say anything but thought Neville would more likely be placed in Hufflepuff, especially if he always acted as he was acting now.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost one." She asked looking in the next compartment where a red-headed boy with dirt on his nose, and black haired boy with glasses that were taped in the middle, were sitting.

"No." said the red haired boy. But Hermione didn't hear him. Her eyes focused directly on the red headed boy's wand he held in his hand.

"Oh. Are you doing magic? Let's see then." She said entering the compartment and sitting across from them. They looked a little taken aback and Hermione supposed she had been rather forward but she couldn't help it, seeing more magic was to exciting to her. She also wanted to make sure she wasn't far behind other students.

"_Sunshine daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid fat rat yellow."_ Said the boy pointing his wand at the rat in his lap. Nothing happened.

Hermione looked skeptical. That didn't even sound like a spell. She felt a little better. At least she could tell the difference between a real spell and a dud like that.

"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good is it? Of course I've only tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me." Hermione said. She knew she would have to give them an example. "For example; _Oculus Reparo." _Hermione pointed her want directly at the black haired boy's glasses and watched excitedly as the tape completely disappeared and the glasses were no longer broken. "That's better, isn't it?"

She couldn't help but feel very proud and very smart watching the shock and awe that were the boy's faces. When the boy took off his glasses to inspect them her mouth fell open and she gasped. She had just seen a lighting shaped scar.

"Holy cricket. You're Harry Potter. I'm Hermione Granger. And you are?" She looked at the red haired boy.

"Um, Ron Weasley." Said with a mouth full of food.

"Pleasure." She said a little disgusted. "You two better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon. You've got dirt on your nose by the way," she told the boy Ron before walking away. "Just there." She said showing the spot on her nose before walking away to find Neville. She found him walking toward her carrying a fat toad in his arms.

"Oh good. You've found him. I'm going to ask the conductor how soon we'll be arriving. Care to join me?"

"Um, no thanks." Said Neville. "I think I'll just go back to my compartment." timidly.

"Alright. But you better change into your robes. I'm sure we'll be there soon."

Hermione walked up to the front of the train passing a bunch of giggling, and hyper students in the corridor. "Really." She huffed. People could be so childish. A sign caught her eye and she stopped a minute to read it. _RESERVED FOR PREFECTS. _One of the doors was opened slightly and Hermione could see a couple older students all wearing their robes already and they had shiny silver 'P' pinned on their robes. She noticed the two sitting on the side she could see the best. One was a boy with the same shade of red hair as the other boy she had just met and on his robes was the Gryffindor lion. The girl next to him blond hair pulled back nicely in an elegant but simple style and she had a Ravenclaw emblem on her robes. Hermione made a mental note to talk to them if she was sorted into either of their houses, they at least seemed mature.

After finding out from the conductor that they were nearly there, Hermione headed back to her compartment. She decided to stop by Harry Potter's compartment just once more to check to see if they had on their robes. When she approached she saw three other boys run out of Harry's compartment and down the corridor. When she reached the compartment she gasped surprised. Sweets had fallen all over the floor along with the red hair boy's rat. She wasn't positive but she was pretty sure his name was Ron or something very similar to that.

"What has been going on?" she asked looking at the mess. The boys ignored her and started talking about one of the boys that just ran off, apparently his name was Malfoy or something. Hermione was growing agitated. Finally Ron turned to look at her.

"Can we help you with something?" he asked clearly not knowing why she had turned up again.

"You better hurry up and put on your robes. I've just been up front to ask the conductor and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting have you?" she asked looking at the mess again. "You'll be in trouble before we even get there."

"Scabbers has been fighting not us." Said Ron indignantly.

Hermione resisted rolling her eyes. He was blaming his rat?

"Would you mind leaving while we change?" He said making quite obvious he didn't want her there.

"All right. I only came in here because people outside are acting very childishly, racing up and down the corridors." She replied in an uppity voice.

Hermione was almost to her compartment when she heard the conductor's voice throughout the train telling them they would be there in five minutes. The butterflies that had left her stomach a while ago suddenly came back. She couldn't figure out if she was excited or nervous, but reminded herself to stay calm as she put her bag up near her trunk so it wouldn't be forgotten. She could feel the train slowing down as she followed the throng of students getting off the train and onto a dark platform, shivering with coldness and excitement she knew now there was no turning back.

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**Author's Note: I used both the book and the movie for when Ron and Harry meet Hermione because I love that scene in the movie, but figured it would be good to stick as closely to the book as possible. Hoped you liked it. Chapter 2 coming soon. (Hopefully.) **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. Hope you like it.**

Chapter 2

Looking around at the other students she anticipated waited for something to happen. Then she noticed the bobbing of what looked like light from a lantern and heard a booming voice.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here."

Hermione turned to the direction of the voice and felt her mouth drop. It belonged to the biggest man she had ever seen. Hermione stared. She wasn't even sure if he was human, there wasn't possibly a way a normal person could grow that big. "Maybe he's a giant." She thought. She shook her head at that idea; he wasn't big _enough_ to be giant. Maybe it was something to do with a spell gone wrong?

"C'mon, follow me-any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Hermione decided not to think about it right now as she slipped and stumbled following the rest of the first years down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. She kept looking down to try and watch her footing but it was hopeless because of how dark the night was. They had to be in some type of forest. She couldn't think of any other explanation.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," yelled the giant man, "jus' round this bend here."

Hermione's mouth dropped opened again as a loud "Oooooh!" rose from the group. She had never seen anything so magnificently beautiful in her life. It was 100 times better than the all the castles in all the princess fairytales she had seen and read. And her imagination of what it looked like couldn't even begin to give the real thing justice.

"No more'n four to a boat!" called the large man. Hermione looked around and realized they were at the edge of a lake, and over where the man was pointing were a fleet of boats. She saw Harry Potter and the Ron boy heading for a boat and followed them, with Neville following her.

"Everyone in?" asked the man who had took up a whole boat himself. "Right then-FORWARD!"

Hermione felt the boat start to glide across the water. No one was talking; everyone was to in awe of the castle.

"Heads down!" yelled the man as the boats reached a cliff. The entrance of the cliff was covered by a curtain of ivy. The boats carried them through a dark tunnel until they reached some type of harbor, where everyone clambered out of the boats. Neville sniffed next to her.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" asked the man holding Neville's toad he had just grabbed out of boat Hermione was in.

"Trevor!" cried Neville happily.

They marched through some sort of stone passageway following the man's lamp at last reaching damp grass right in front of the castle.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" asked the man looking at Neville.

Hermione held her breath as she watched the man raise a huge fist and knock three times on the castle door. The door swung open at once. The witch who had explained about the magical world to Hermione and her and parents during the summer stood there wearing emerald-green robes.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the large man.

McGonagall! "That's what her name was," thought Hermione glad she finally remembered it.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She said pulling the door open wide.

Hagrid. So that was the large man's name. Hermione followed the cluster of students into the entrance hall where the walls were lit with flaming torches. She stared in amazement. This was absolutely surreal. Professor McGonagall led the first years into a small, empty chamber just off of the hall. Everyone crowed in, squishing together, looking nervously at each other.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Said Professor McGonagall. Hermione gave her her full attention. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleeping your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be accredit to whichever house becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

Professor McGonagall left the chamber and Hermione began to panic. 'Smarten yourselves up.' What did she mean by that? Were they going to be quizzed to see if they were smart enough to actually learn here? She started thinking and whispering about the spells she had already learned. Which one would she need? She hoped not Transfiguration. She of course knew the spells but didn't know how well she could perform them, especially in front of the whole school! Maybe something to do with charms. Maybe they might have to repair things, or something. What if it was Herbology? Or Potions? She tried to think about everything she'd read. She jumped and came out of her thoughts when she heard several people scream. She looked and saw what had caused it. Twenty or so ghosts had just come through the back wall. Hermione stared in amazement. She already knew that ghosts resided in the castle and that each house had their own ghost but to actually see them. That was something entirely new. They were talking about something, but Hermione was too shocked to really listen.

"I say, what are you all doing here?" asked a ghost wearing a ruff and tights.

None of the first years answered.

"New students," yelled another smiling at them. He said something about Hufflepuff but Hermione still couldn't seem to listen properly.

"Move along now," came the sharp voice of Professor McGonagall. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Hermione once again gave the professor her full and undivided attention.

"Now form a line and follow me."

Hermione's legs felt weak, and the butterflies once again returned as she got into line behind a girl with strawberry blonde hair, and followed the line through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. When she entered she was breathless. This surpassed anything in her imagination. The whole room was lit with thousands, and thousands, of candles floating in mid air. She looked up to see the night sky. "It's bewitched to look like the night sky outside." Hermione told the girl in front of her. "I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History._"

Hermione watched excitedly as Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool with an old, frayed, and extremely dirty wizard hat on it. She was confused for a moment, then quietly gasped. It was the Sorting Hat! Hermione had read that once you put it on it could see all of your thoughts, characteristics, personality, and intelligence. It would then place you in the house that best represented your qualities. Each of the founding founders added their own little bits of magic to the hat when it was created to ensure students who had traits they considered important be placed in their house. She watched anxiously as the hat opened some type of mouth near the brim and started to sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see, _

_I'll eat myself if you can find _

_A smarter hat than me. _

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat _

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see, _

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be. _

_You might belong in Gryffindor, _

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry _

_Set Gryffindor apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff, _

_Where they are just and loyal, _

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, _

_If you've a ready mind, _

_Where those of wit and learning ,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_You'll make your real friends, _

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap! _

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause and Hermione took a few deep breaths as she watched Professor McGonagall step forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbot, Hannah."

Hermione watched a pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails sat on the stool and put on the hat. A moment later she heard the hat yell; "HUFFLEPUFF!" She saw the table on the right cheer. She waited anxiously for her name to be called. She was once again experience the feeling of excitement and nervousness at the same time.

"Granger, Hermione."

She took a deep breath and quickly walked up and put the hat on her head and heard a little voice inside her ear.

"Hmm. Interesting mind young lady. Very interesting. I see much intelligence in you, Ravenclaw would be a wonderful spot for you. You have knowledge and want to show the world how smart you are. Yes, Ravenclaw would be an excellent choice for you. However, there is something about you. Your insecurities cover it some, but I can see through those. Ravenclaw would be a fine choice, however, I believe you would you do much better in GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione gave the hat back to professor McGonagall and walked beaming to the Gryffindor table on the far left of the hall amongst the cheers. She sat down next to the Prefect boy she recognized on the train, and watched the rest of the sorting.

She was a bit shocked when Neville was sorted into Gryffindor but cheered nonetheless with the rest of her house. She paid attention to the whole sorting but really only cared about who was sorted into Gryffindor and she was very curious to see what house Harry Potter would be in. McGonagall read through the list and only one other girl, Parvati Patil, became a Gryffindor before she called Harry's name. Hermione noticed it got deathly quiet in the hall, everyone anticipating the outcome.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.

Hermione cheered and clapped as Harry walked over to the table looking kind of relieved. She noticed two twins (with the same shade of red hair as the Prefect boy and the boy Ron she met on the train. She wondered if they were related.) chanting "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Hermione turned her attention back to the Sorting. There were only a few students left and Ron was one of them. When a boy named Dean Thomas was sorted into Gryffindor, Hermione as well as Harry and the rest of the table cheered. Ron was up soon. Hermione noticed Harry looking hopeful, presumably about what house his friend Ron was sorted into. She, on the other hand, didn't really care. He was rather rude, and definitely not Hermione's favorite person.

"Weasley, Ronald."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione clapped with the rest of her table and was glad that she got her question answered about whether he and the Prefect boy were related, when he exclaimed in a tone that made it clear they were quite familiar with each other, "Well done, Ron, excellent."

When the last person was sorted into Slytherin, Hermione looked down at the empty golden plate in front of her. There was no food on the table and she was very curious about how and what they were going to eat. She watched as the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, rose to feet, arms opened wide. It was obvious he was extremely pleased to see them all here.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you."

"How odd," thought Hermione. Dumbledore was one of the greatest and smartest wizards of the century, if not _the _greatest and smartest. She would most definitely have to remember that so she could figure out what it meant. But all those thoughts disappeared when she looked back down at the table. Where empty table space was before, now it was filled with platters of food. Hermione stared in amazement. She had so much to write home about! Would anything in the wizarding world ever not surprise her. She helped herself to some potatoes, chicken, and carrots. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until after she smelt the food. Hermione noticed the ghost she saw earlier, the one wearing a ruff and tights talking to Harry.

"…I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service . Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" Ron suddenly interjected. "My brothers told me about you-you're Nearly Headless Nick."

Hermione saw the ghost looked rather miffed. "I would _prefer _you to call meSir Nicholas de Mismy-"

"_Nearly _Headless? How can you be _nearly _headless?" interrupted a sandy haired boy. Hermione believed his name was Seamus Finnigan or something like that.

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington looked very irritated now. "Like _this," _and he pulled his left ear.

Hermione jumped in shock. His head had nearly completely come off. It laid on his shoulder as if on a hinge. Obviously who ever tried to behead him did not do a very good job. He looked pleased with himself as he examined their faces, and started talking to them again, but Hermione turned away afraid of anything else he would be able to sever. She turned to the Prefect boy sitting beside her.

"You're a Prefect aren't you?" she asked him.

He nodded. "Yes."

"I'm Hermione Granger. "

"Percy Weasley."

"You're related to Ron, aren't you?"

"Yes, he's my brother. Do you know him?"

"A bit. We met on the train. You must be a fifth year." She remembered reading that Prefects were chosen in their fifth year.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Your Prefect badge. I hope to become a Prefect my fifth year."

Percy looked at her with a look of surprise yet admiration.

"Really? Not many first years have a goal of becoming a Prefect as a large part of their future plans. Were your parents or relatives Prefects by chance?"

"Oh no, I'm Muggle-born. Mum and dad were quite surprised when I received my letter, of course I read Hogwarts is one of the best wizarding schools out there. I'm extremely excited to start learning."

Percy looked pleased.

"I _do _hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's suppose to be very difficult. I hope I'm not far behind."

"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing, so you don't have to worry too much." Percy explained.

"Do you know what you want to do after you graduate?" asked Hermione.

"No. I'm not sure yet. But I do want to work for the Ministry of Magic. That's like the government of the Wizarding world," answered Percy.

Hermione nodded, already knowing what the Ministry of Magic was. She saw Percy turn his attention to Harry and Hermione turned to listen to some other students talking about their summer and what they weren't looking forward to in class.

After the desserts disappeared (after everyone had stuffed themselves with the feast the food magically disappeared, and what seemed like hundreds of desserts magically appeared in their place.) Hermione turned her attention to Headmaster Dumbledore who had just risen to his feet.

"Ahem-just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Hermione thought she saw his eyes flash in the direction of the Gryffindor table at the two red haired twins, but wasn't positive.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Hermione heard some people laugh, and scoffed. _Idiots._ She heard Harry ask Percy if Dumbledore was serious and rolled her eyes. Of course he was serious. "Everything Dumbledore says should be taken seriously," thought Hermione.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore as a long gold ribbon flew out of his wand and twisted into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, _

_Teach us something please, _

_Whether we be old and bald _

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling _

_With some interesting stuff, _

_For now they're bare and full of air, _

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot, _

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest, _

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

Everyone finished the song at different times and Hermione couldn't help but giggle a little as everyone finished it. Eventually, only the two red haired boys were left singing to a very slow funeral march. Hermione watched them skeptically as Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand.

"Ah, music," said Dumbledore, "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The first years followed Percy through the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Hermione kept close by the group, terrified of getting split up. Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries, and up many staircases. Even though she kept a close eye on Percy she was fascinated watching the portraits move. All of a sudden they came to a halt.

A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step forward they started throwing themselves at him. Hermione's eyes opened in shock.

"Peeves," he whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He turned his attention away from them and raised his voice. "Peeves-show yourself."

A loud, rude noise answered and Hermione looked around to find where it was coming from.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said evilly. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He suddenly swooped down on them and they all ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They could hear him rattling coats of armor as he zoomed away.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," warned Percy, setting off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects."

Hermione hoped she never ran into him.

"Here we are."

They were at the end of a corridor and a portrait of a very large woman in pink silk dress blocked their path.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," answered Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal round hole in the wall. Everyone scrambled through it-Neville of course needed a leg up- and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room. It was a round cozy room with a fire place, and was full of squashy armchairs that looked very inviting.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room," said Percy as the first years crowed around. "Boy's dormitories are upstairs and down to your left; girls the same on your right. You'll find all your belongings have already been brought up."

The crowd dispersed and Hermione found herself sharing the first year girl's dormitory with two other girls. She recognized them from the Sorting but couldn't remember their names. Inside the girl's dormitory were three four poster beds, with hanging deep red, velvet curtains. Hermione noticed their trunks were already brought up and were at the foot of each bed. Hermione was quiet, so were the other girls each not knowing what to say. The girl with very pretty long black hair was the first to speak.

"So, since we're going to be sharing a room together for the next seven years, we should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Parvati Patil," she said nervously.

"Lavender Brown," said a girl with somewhat curly blondish brown hair.

"Hermione Granger."

The girls were quiet again and preceded to get on their pajamas and get ready for bed.

"The food was rather good. Don't you think?" asked Parvati brushing her hair.

Lavender and Hermione nodded.

Hermione got into bed and laid her head on the pillow, not realizing how tired she was, barely keeping her eyes open. She softly heard Lavender and Parvati talking.

"I have so much to write mum and dad about," she thought before falling happily to sleep.

**Author's Note: I used lines and scenes from both the movie and the book but when it came to the Sorting I stuck the book because it's the original; hence Padma Patil is in Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor like in the movie. Chapter 3 hopefully coming soon. **

**P.S. Thanks to Evanescent Wishes** **for the nice reviews. ******


	4. Chapter 3

**Here's Chapter 3. Hope you like it.**

**I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter 3

The next morning when Hermione woke up she kept her eyes closed not wanting the amazing dream she had just dreamt to be over with. She knew once she opened her eyes she would be back in her old room, in her house, waiting for her mother to check and make sure she was actually up. She buried her head in her pillow squeezing her eyes shut trying to force herself back to sleep. "Wait, this doesn't feel like my bed," she thought moving a little. She very slowly opened her eyes a crack and wanted to squeal with delight. (Of course she didn't because Hermione would never do such a thing, she was much to mature.)She could hardly believe it, it hadn't been a dream. It had all really happened!

She looked around at the other girls and saw Lavender and Parvati still sleeping and quietly got out of bed. She noticed a piece of parchment sitting on her bedside table; eagerly she grabbed it and read it. It turned out to be her class schedule. She noticed Lavender and Parvati also had one on their tables. Excitedly she looked over it. She had Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense of Against the Dark Arts Mondays through Thursdays, Herbology on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, History of Magic Tuesdays and Thursday, Double Potions on Fridays, and Astronomy on Wednesdays at midnight. She got dressed, walked down to the common room deciding to not go to breakfast in case her stomach couldn't take it, and waited anxiously for classes to begin.

Just as she was about to leave for her first class she ran into Percy. She wanted to get to class on time so she decided to leave early just in case she got lost or something and none of the other Gryffindor first years were downstairs. Hermione was grateful Percy walked with her to her class since he was going to Defense Against the Dark Arts which was near the Charms corridor. She knew from _Hogwarts, A History, _there were one-hundred and forty two staircases, some wide, other skinny and rickety, and all of them had their own little quirks. Many of them moved, but there were others where the middle step magically vanished or the staircase led to a completely different place on Friday then it did on Monday. And if the stairs didn't confuse you there were plenty of other things that did.

The portraits were always moving, the suits of armor seemed bewitched, and even the doorways had their own little tricks. Some wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in the right spot, and others weren't doorways at all, just a wall that looked like a door. And that was only the staircases and the doors. Hermione knew there were other secrets hidden around the castle, such as rooms, and passageways, and nervously wondered if she would ever be able to find all her classes without getting lost.

"Quiet down everyone. Quiet down," piped the Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, to the talkative group of first years. Hermione immediately focused her attention on him. He was a short little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books just to see over his desk. "Welcome to your first Charms lesson", he squeaked. "In this classroom you will learn some of the most basic charms which, if used correctly, can make tasks much easier and are nearly essential in the lives of witches and wizards today. I assume you all have _The Standard Book of Spells _and _Magical Theory _with you?" The class nodded hesitantly. "Excellent. Just let me take roll call and then we can begin," he said cheerily as he flicked his wand and a piece of parchment appeared.

"Hannah Abbott?" A girl Hermione recognized raised her hand shyly. Professor Flitwick smiled and nodded at her. "Susan Bones?" Another girl Hermione recognized raised her hand. The professor went through roll call and smiled when he called Hermione's name and her hand went up rather enthusiastically. When he reached Harry's name he let out an excited squeak and toppled out of sight behind his books. Hermione gasped along with the rest of the class who looked shocked. He quickly reappeared though, composed himself, finished roll call, and explained that before they could start learning charms they needed to understand the theory behind them. Hermione quietly let out a sigh of relief while he was teaching; she understood everything Professor Flitwick was talking about. The lesson took up the whole class time but Professor Flitwick promised them that they would begin practicing spells very soon.

Hermione was elated after the lesson. She had thoroughly enjoyed it. "It wasn't too difficult," she thought walking with the rest of the Gryffindors to their first Transfiguration class, "I think I might do rather well in Charms."

When they reached their Transfiguration classroom they all clamored in, and Hermione made a beeline straight for the front. This was the class she was most looking forward to. Pulling out _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration _out of her bag she laid it on her desk and waited anxiously for Professor McGonagall. When Professor McGonagall appeared she made it obvious Transfiguration was a very serious subject and she did not allow nonsense in her classroom. Hermione sat up straighter, not wanting McGonagall to think she didn't take it seriously. She knew she was head of Gryffindor house but heard she was a very strict teacher and rarely (if ever) showed favoritism. Hermione already liked McGonagall though and wanted to prove that she was here to learn.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." She then changed her desk into a pig then back again. All the students looked around at each other very impressed and very excited to get started. Hermione knew though that changing furniture into animals was very complex magic and that first years probably weren't going to be attempting it. McGonagall tapped a chalkboard with her wand and words, figures, and drawings appeared.

McGonagall, like Flitwick, made them all copy down complex notes and explained the theories and ideas behind Transfiguration. After they had finished the notes they were each given a match to turn into a needle.

"As you finish writing, I will be coming around and placing a match on your desk. Your goal is to transfigure it into a needle. You have until the end of the lesson. Remember the correct wand work and the correct incantation; _Verso Abeo. _

"Once you are finished with your notes, and have received the match, you may begin."

Hermione tried to keep her excitement hidden as the Professor laid the match on her desk. She figured Professor McGonagall would not be impressed in she acted like a ninny because of her excitement level. She grabbed her wand, and took a few small breaths. She hadn't practiced any Transfiguration and even though she understood the coursework she didn't know if it would be enough to actually perform magic without practice. Staring intently at her match she said the spell.

"_Verso Abeo," _She said pointing her wand at the match. Nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing. She decided to concentrate harder this time. _"Verso Abeo."_ Still nothing. She was starting to get nervous. When she looked around at her other classmates she was relieved to see none of them had transfigured it yet either.

"Even beginning Transfiguration is difficult so don't worry if you do not accomplish it right away. However, I expect you to practice outside of class so you can perform correctly for next time," she explained walking around and seeing the same number of matchsticks she had laid out.

Hermione was starting to become frustrated. "Okay, relax. You can do this," she told herself taking calming breaths. After a few more unproductive tries, and the nearing of class, she started to get very worried. "Just try it once more, you've almost got it," she told herself. She pointed her wand at her match, _"Verso Abeo." _And then right before her eyes the match magically changed from a small sliver of wood to a shiny slender needle. Hermione was ecstatic.

Professor McGonagall walked over to Hermione's desk and examined her needle.

"Excellent Miss Granger. Ten points for Gryffindor." She smiled at Hermione (which she had heard was very rare) and showed the class how silver and pointy her needle was. Hermione didn't think she could feel any happier, but earning ten points for Gryffindor and earning a smile and a compliment from Professor McGonagall somehow managed to expand her feelings of happiness.

After class, Hermione followed the rest of the group to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class- a class everyone was looking forward to. When she entered the room a strong smell of garlic hit her nose and she made a face, but nonetheless she made a beeline straight for the front row of seats. After sitting down she heard some students behind her talking about how the Professor met a vampire in Romania and that's why his room smelt so bad; just in case the vampire decided to come back and get him one of these days. They stopped talking once the Professor, who introduced himself as Professor Quirrell started to teach.

Sadly the class wasn't what she or the rest of the students had in mind. It seemed more like a joke then a proper lesson. Professor Quirrell told them an African Prince gave him the turban he wore as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie. This sparked Hermione's interests until Seamus Finnigan, a fellow first year Gryffindor, asked how he got rid of the zombie. Hermione listened closely but became disappointed when all Professor Quirrell did was turn pink and stuttered and started talking about the weather. Hermione would never question a teacher, and always took what they taught seriously but she was having a hard time doing so with Professor Quirrell and was rather disappointed. In fact, _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection_ (her textbook) had been much more informative and interesting than the lesson.

When class ended Hermione followed the rest of the first years to lunch listening to the conversation the boys were having.

"I don't think he really got rid of a zombie, do you?" asked Ron

"Nah, I think he just made it up," said a boy named Dean Thomas. Harry and Seamus agreed.

Once lunch was over the first years had Herbology in the greenhouses behind the school. Hermione imagined it similar to gardening; and it was, except in a more magical way. Although, she thought gardens could be very pretty, she wasn't a huge fan of getting full of dirt. But after class had finished she had found she enjoyed it much more than Defense Against the Dark Arts. At least her teacher, Professor Sprout, actually taught them something.

As the days moved on Hermione found herself more and more entranced with the magical world. She had fallen in love with her lessons and could barely contain her excitement when Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick gave them their first homework assignment. And even though she knew very little about Astronomy she found finding the different planets and learning about the different stars very interesting and made sure to remember it all so she could show her parents during the holidays.

History of Magic was okay. The class was interesting, but Professor Binns was very boring. He was also her only ghost teacher. She'd heard one day he had fallen asleep in an armchair next to the fire in the staff room, died, and when he got up he left to teach he left his body behind. Hermione thought that sounded like it might've been a rather shocking experience. Nonetheless, she took notes on everything he said and rolled her eyes when she noticed her other classmates barely listening, off in their own world. It was rather obvious she was the most serious student.

**Author's Note: I hope you like it so far. I wanted to get potions in this chapter but it was way too long, so it's going to be part of chapter 4. I hope I'm making Hermione sound Hermione-ish and the classes sound convincing. By the way; Verso= To in Italian. Abeo =Change in Latin. 'To Change'. Chapter 4 coming soon. P.S. Thanks to ****.**** for the nice review. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter 4

The week had flown by so fast Hermione only remembered it was Friday when she examined her schedule and saw today was the first day she had Potions-Double Potions to be exact. And then she had the rest of the afternoon free. She didn't know if she should be excited or nervous. She was very interested in Potions. She figured it must be like Muggle Chemistry, and since both of her parents were dentists she already knew a little chemistry from looking at some of their old chemistry books. On the other hand though she had heard that the Potions teacher, Professor Snape, hated Gryffindors, in fact he hated everyone who wasn't in Slytherin.

"I should probably write mum and dad," she thought eating her toast and watching the owls deliver letters, baked goods, and the daily prophet to students. She never expected anything since she hadn't left parchment or a way to actually _get_ the mail to her at home. She knew she left a quill at home so her parents could actually write her when they had all the means.

Her mother had offered to write to her on regular paper, but since Hermione was now part of the Wizarding world she didn't want her parents writing to her on regular paper; not when everyone else wrote on parchment. Knowing she had Friday afternoons free she decided she would write them after Potions, and of course after any homework she was given. She also decided to send home some parchment so they could respond.

Feeling a little nervous but still determined to show the Professor how serious she took her lessons she followed the group of Gryffindors down to the dungeons. She was glad that the first years went to classes as a group. It made her feel more comfortable and accepted.

It was chilly in the dungeons, where Potions took place, much colder than the rest of the castle and there was this feeling. Hermione didn't know what it was but she didn't like. They would be sharing a class with the Slytherin first years who were already there when the Gryffindors walked in. The Gryffindors sat on one side, the Slytherins on the other.

When Professor Snape entered Hermione didn't know what to think about him. There was something about his swallow skin, and greasy black hair that seemed a bit scary to her. She of course didn't show it, but nonetheless he definitely wasn't a teacher who would allow silliness, that was for sure.

At the start of class he read roll call but didn't stop for the students to respond. He stopped a moment when he reached Harry's name.

"Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our new-_celebrity._"

Hermione looked over at him while Snape finished roll call. She heard a couple of Slytherin boys sniggering but fought the urge to turn around.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," said Professor Snape in a voice barely above a whisper but yet the class caught every word. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…" Hermione held her breath and leaned forward more to hear him better. "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death-if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

There was nothing but silence as he finished his speech. Hermione was losing patience; she wanted to prove she _wasn't_ a dunderhead.

"Potter!" snapped Snape. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione threw her hand in the air. She knew this! She looked over at Harry who had look of obvious confusion on his face.

"I don't know, sir."

Hermione saw Professor Snape's lips curl in a sneer. He looked quite frightening.

"Tut, tut-fame clearly isn't' everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione knew the answer for this one too! "The stomach of a goat," she thought, stretching her hand as high in the air as it could go while staying sitting. She saw the looks of confusion on Harry's face get more pronounced.

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"

Hermione started to slightly shake her hand. Maybe Harry didn't open the books, but she did! Why didn't he call on her?

"What's the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Hermione couldn't take it anymore, she was about to burst. These questions were so easy! She stood up, hoping the Professor would call on her.

"I don't know," answered Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

Hermione looked at Harry. She heard a couple of laughs but Professor Snape did not look pleased.

"Sit down," he snapped at her.

She sat down in shock. Teachers nearly _always_ called on her. Why hadn't Professor Snape? She was still in shock when Snape snapped at the class to take notes after answering his own questions. He then took a point from Gryffindor.

Brushing off the shock, Hermione was re-determined to prove herself when Professor Snape spilt them into pairs to brew a simple potion to cure boils. Hermione was paired up with Parvati. They smiled shyly at each other and set out ingredients for the potion. They decided to use Hermione's cauldron.

"Do you know what you're doing?" asked Parvati quietly. Hermione nodded. Of course she knew what she was doing. It was one of the first potions listed in _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. _

"Good. Because I'm already a little confused."

So far Hermione really liked Parvati, but she really wanted to prove to Professor Snape that she understood the lesson and wasn't a dunderhead. The potion could turn out very wrong if the directions weren't followed exactly.

"Right. You prepare the porcupine quills, and start crushing the snake fangs," she told Parvati. Hermione wanted to do most of the potion making part just to make sure it was done right. Parvati didn't complain and got to work on what Hermione had assigned.

Professor Snape walked around the room, well it was more like he slithered around the room and peered over their work stations making them nervous and insulting them whenever he could.

"Is that really the correct form to crush snake fangs?" he asked eerily to Dean who was working with Lavender.

"Mr. Potter make sure you actually read the directions… You too Mr. Weasley."

Hermione was becoming very proud of her and Parvati's potion. They had just finished stewing their horned slugs and their potion looked exactly how it was described in the book. They were about to move on to the next step when clouds of acid green smoke filled the air and a hissing sound filled the dungeons.

Hermione looked around trying to find where it was coming from. She felt a mixture of pity and hopelessness when she spotted the culprit. Neville had managed to somehow melt Seamus's cauldron and now their potion was sliding across the dungeon floor. Both Parvati and Hermione gasped and hurriedly stood on their stools as the acidic potion starting burning holes in people's shoes and robes.

"Idiot boy," snarled Snape as he cleaned up the mess with the flick of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Hermione looked at Neville who was now covered in painful red boils since the potion had splashed him. Even though she felt really bad about what happened to Neville, she was glad he hadn't been her partner if he couldn't even make a simple potion. She watched as Seamus and Neville quickly walked out of room to go to the hospital wing.

"I hope he doesn't take away points from Gryffindor, because of Neville" she thought watching Snape yell at Harry and Ron. "Maybe our potion will make up for Neville's stupidity." She anxiously hoped so.

Near the end of class Professor Snape had them fill a glass vial with their finished potion and put it on his desk before they packed up and left. Neville and Seamus didn't return to class that day. Even though it hadn't been a good class most of the Gryffindors seemed glad they now had a free afternoon and that Professor Snape didn't give them any homework.

After they entered the common room they went their separate ways. Hermione saw Seamus talking to Dean about what happened after they left class. (Seamus could've come back if he wanted, but decided not to.) Harry and Ron disappeared up to the boy's dormitories, and Lavender and Parvati went up to the girl's. "Probably to look at some stupid magazine," she thought, thinking about a couple nights ago when instead of doing homework they looked at some magazine Lavender's mum sent her. She decided now was the perfect time to write her letter. Grabbing some parchment and ink she sat down at one of the tables in the common room and thought about everything that had happen that week.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_I absolutely love it here! The classes are wonderful, and I have amazing teachers. Well, except for my Potions professor, he's just scary. (But I think he scares everyone.) And my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (Professor Quirrell) isn't very good, but my other professors definitely make up for it. _

_I can hardly believe I've been here a week! I have so much to tell you I don't know where to begin. First off, as you know there are four houses. And I'm in Gryffindor! Remember how I told you how students were sorted? The hat chose me for Gryffindor; it said I would've done well in Ravenclaw too, though. My (and the rest of the Gryffindors) dormitories and common room are up in one of the towers. The view is very beautiful, and the only way we can get into Gryffindor tower is to give a portrait of fat woman in a pink dress the password. (Right now it's pumpkin juice.) I share a dormitory with two other girls, Parvati and Lavender. They seem nice so far but maybe a bit too silly for my liking. There are also five boy Gryffindor first years, and one of them is Harry Potter! Remember the boy I told you about, the one who killed one of the evilest and wicked wizards of the age when he was just a baby? So far he seems very nice. He hangs out a lot with a boy named Ron. He's okay, but I really like his brother Percy. (He's a Prefect.)There are also Dean, Seamus, and Neville. _

_I actually met Neville on the train when I helped him find his toad he had lost. And to be honest, I didn't think he was going to be a Gryffindor; he seemed rather whiny, and hopeless. He really is a very nice boy, but today in Potions he misread the directions and completely melted his partner's caldron spilling the potion all over himself which caused him to break out in boils. And it was a rather easy potion to make too. _

_My studies are going well. I adore Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall is a very good teacher. So far I think she's my favorite. She's also the head of Gryffindor house and gave me ten house points when I successfully transfigured a matchstick into a needle. I was the only one in class to do it too!_

_I really like Charms as well. Professor Flitwick is so small he actually has to stand on a stack of books to see over his desk! I am so happy I haven't gotten lost yet. (In the lessons, I mean.) So far I have understood everything we've been taught and I got 100% on my first piece of Charms homework. To be honest it really was very easy. _

_Although, my Defense Against the Dark Arts class seems more like a joke, or least Professor Quirrell does. The textbook for it is fascinating, but Professor Quirrell hasn't exactly taught us anything yet, and his room reeks of garlic. Apparently it's because he's terrified a vampire he met earlier this year is out to get revenge on him. Personally, I find it rather stupid. _

_I also have Astronomy (every Wednesday at midnight,) Herbology, and History of Magic. Professor Sinistra seems like a good teacher as well. She's my Astronomy teacher. I've only had it once, but so far it seems very interesting. _

_Herbology is fine. Not a favorite subject personally but Professor Sprout is a very nice teacher, and she at least teaches us stuff. So far we've only looked at small plants but I'm sure we'll be advancing soon. She's also head of Hufflepuff house. We hold the classes in the greenhouses behind the school, rather than actually in the castle. _

_History of Magic is okay too, although it can get rather boring. You'll never believe me when I tell you what my Professor is though… A ghost! Can you believe that? But Professor Binns isn't the only ghost in school. There must be about 20 different ghosts, but I'm not sure how many there are exactly. Each house has its own ghost. Nearly Headless Nick is Gryffindors. His real name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, but we call him Nearly Headless Nick because whoever was trying to decapitate him didn't do a very good job. He really is very pleasant for someone with a nearly disconnected head. _

_So far those are all my classes, but I heard we're going to have flying lessons soon. I'm quite nervous about that. Flying isn't something you can learn from a book, and I don't know how well I will be at it. I shouldn't be too worried about it though. There are many students from Muggle-born families, and I'm sure even students who grew up in the Wizarding world didn't ride them much. (I hope.) I just hope it doesn't hurt my academic standing. I know we've only been in school for a week, but so far I think it's quiet obvious I'm the smartest. Some of the first years hadn't even read their textbooks until school started! _

_How is everything at home? I do hope you guys are doing okay. I love it here and I'm very, very glad that I came. So far I have no regrets. With my letter I'm also sending you some extra parchment too so you can write back, (there's a quill in my room on my dresser) and you can just use the owl I send this letter with to send yours back. I will also pack some extra owl treats. _

_I love you, and can't wait until Christmas Holidays. Write back soon. _

_Love, your daughter,_

_Hermione _

Hermione read over it and smiled. She really did miss home, but she absolutely adored school. Deciding her letter was long enough she kissed it, folded it, and slipped it in an envelope to be mailed later that day when she decided to explore the school. Or at least figure out how to get to the owlery, and the library. She hadn't found the library yet, and was extremely excited to do so. She looked around the room and didn't see any of the other first years. She didn't have any homework, but even if she had she doubted she could get much of it done since classes had just finished a lot of the older students were coming in the common room now. "Well, what's a better time?" she thought as she grabbed her bag and her letter and walked out of the common room.

**Author's Note: I hoped you liked it. The next couple chapter(s) may be a bit more difficult to write since I don't have the book as a really big guide line for the chapter(s) before Hermione befriends Harry and Ron, and I want to make this story as serious and convincing as possible. More coming soon! **

**P.S. Sorry for any spelling errors, grammar problems, etc. I have a very touchy computer so sometimes I miss them.**

**P.P.S.S. Flames are ignored, but reviews and constructive criticism is always appreciated and taken seriously. **


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter 5

She felt a little nervous walking away from the Fat Lady. This was the first time she would actually be walking around the castle alone. "I at least know where the Great Hall is," she thought. "I can use that as a reference point if I get lost or something."

Walking down the stone corridors Hermione couldn't help but smile even though the butterflies in her stomach were going crazy. Although she had already been at school for a week she was still fascinated by nearly everything she saw. "I wonder if I'll ever get use to seeing pictures move?" she thought, stopping a minute to watch a couple of girls swinging. She knew she probably would; everyone eventually gets use to their environment.

She was very entertained by watching what she assumed was the everyday hustle and bustle of Hogwarts. She saw ghosts gliding along talking to each other going through walls and doors, different teachers walking the corridors sometimes shooting looks at students they believed were somehow planning to cause some sort of trouble, and of course all the different students coming to and fro from classes, the Great Hall and anywhere else they were at. Passing one of the classrooms used for Transfiguration she could've sworn she heard Professor McGonagall's voice yelling at a couple of students.

"… already? It's only the beginning of term! You three better have a good excuse if you don't want detentions for a month and 20 house points deducted from each of you! Well, Mr. Jordan, Mr. and Mr. Weasley? I'm waiting…"

Hermione hoped whatever happened didn't cost Gryffindor 60 points. She had heard Gryffindor hadn't won the house cup in at least six years and desperately wanted Gryffindor to win this year. She held her letter tight in her hand and kept walking. She knew the Owlery was located in the West Tower and now all she had to do was find West Tower. After a little while and a few wrong turns later she was starting to consider maybe asking a teacher or a prefect. She thought about asking one of the ghosts floating by her but decided against it. The only ghost she truly felt comfortable around was Nearly Headless Nick and she hadn't seen him recently. She was just about to give up and try her luck in finding the library when she overheard a couple of older student's conversation.

"…nah, maybe later. I gotta go mail this. I promised mum I'd write at the very beginning of term and she'll freak if she doesn't hear from me soon. I'll meet up with you guys in the Great Hall afterwards."

Hermione watched as an older Hufflepuff boy broke away from his group of friends and started walking down a different corridor.

"He must be going to the Owlery if he's going to mail a letter!" she thought excitedly. "I'll just follow behind him somewhat…"

She stayed a good distance behind him just in case he turned around-she didn't want to look suspicious. She needn't have worried. He didn't once look back at her the whole way to the Owlery and once they reached the steps to West Tower Hermione decided to wait until after the boy had gone up, mailed his letter, and came down before she went up to do the same.

Watching him walk away she felt of pang of something in the gut of her stomach. Was it jealousy? She didn't want to admit it but she was rather jealous that he had people waiting for him in the Great Hall and she didn't. She had tried to make friends with Lavender and Parvati and even though they were both very nice they just weren't Hermione's type. They both got along great though, causing Hermione to feel a little left out. She knew they weren't doing it on purpose but it still somewhat bothered her if she thought about it too much.

"Relax," she told herself. "It's only the first week. You'll make friends soon, and besides your here to focus on your education, not friends."

Feeling a little bit better she walked up the Owlery steps. She didn't know what to expect but if she had ever imagined an Owlery this is exactly how she would've pictured it. She shivered slightly as a breeze blew through the open widow. It was a large circular room with hundreds of owls perched on perches throughout the tower. The floor was covered in straw, owl droppings, and what seemed to be skeletons and regurgitated parts of rodents. Hermione flinched as she took a step forward and heard a crunch under her foot. Feeling nervous she slowly walked toward the nearest barn owl and held out her hand. The owl held still and allowed Hermione to softly pet it. She smiled and relaxed a little as the owl held out it's leg. Not knowing what to do except tie the letter to it's leg she felt a little foolish telling it her address.

"I'm sorry I don't have any treats for you," she said as she finished tying the letter loosely but securely around the owl's leg. "But when you return I promise I'll have some for you. And you might have to wait a bit. I'm hoping they send a reply." Hermione felt foolish talking to the owl but it hooted as though it understood her and took off out the nearest open window.

"It must get quite chilly up here during the winter," she thought as she shivered again. She looked around at the many glassless windows. Leaving the Owlery she felt that pang in her stomach again knowing no one was waiting her. "Oh well," she thought retracing her steps. She didn't have time to think about that now; she wanted to find the library before supper.

It may have just been her imagination but it seemed like she found the library much faster than she did the Owlery. She knew it was on the fourth floor and it didn't take her long to find it once she realized she was on the third floor where Charm classes were held.

Holding her breath she opened the door and walked inside not knowing what to expect. Her mouth fell open and she felt a smile spread across her face. This was where she belonged. Thousands and thousands of books towering over her on shelves was spread throughout the library, and every so often a group of tables appeared where students could study. Hermione was overwhelmed. She didn't know where to even begin. She walked around cautiously breathing very lightly skimming her eyes over whatever book titles she saw. Even though it looked rather intimidating Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of calmness surround her. This was what she was use to; books, reading, and logic. She knew she would be coming here often.

She passed a section simply labeled Dragons but didn't really investigate it. Neither dragons, nor magical creatures seemed very appealing to her. She just walked around in awe; there were so many books on so many different subjects! She couldn't wait to tell her parents about it. Every so often she would spot a student but other than that the library seemed nearly empty.

She stopped at the end of a row to figure out which book or books she wanted to read first. "Maybe something to do with Transfiguration; I'm sure a little extra reading wouldn't hurt, and it would show how serious I am about my studies. Or maybe something with Charms, just so I completely understand it and don't fall behind when it becomes more advanced. Or maybe I should read something about the history of magic. Professor Binns is very boring and I don't want to miss something if I fall asleep. Not that that would ever happen but still…I suppose I could maybe get something on Herbology or Potions, or even Defense Against the Dark Arts…But that really doesn't sound appealing. Maybe I should just get something that isn't related to subjects, something for a bit of light reading…"

Thoughts ran through her head as she tried to figure out where to begin her search when a roped off section of the library caught her eye. Glancing around over her shoulder she walked over to it. All it was was a thick rope blocking that section from the rest of the library. There was a plaque next to it; _RESTRICTED SECTION._ Hermione gasped silently. "This must be where they keep all the more serious and dark books," she thought craning her head to try and see more of the section without actually crossing the rope. For a fleeting second Hermione considered actually sneaking in there and exploring but knew first years couldn't possibly be allowed in there and that she could get in very serious trouble. Shaking the thought out of her head she was about to turn around and go back to the front of the library when a voice made her jump.

"Looking for something in particular?" asked a very severe and strict looking woman.

"Um, no." Hermione said looking at her nervously. She wasn't going to be in trouble for being near the restricted section was she?

"First year." it was more of statement than a question.

Hermione nodded.

"I am Madam Pince, Hogwarts Librarian. I have very strict rules in the library and I expect them to be followed. There are many old and priceless books within these shelves and the consequences for breaking any of the rules are most severe. Food is _never_ allowed in the library and if I see any horseplay or foolishness that person will be kicked out. The Restricted Section is completely off-limits to students unless they have a signed note from a teacher and sneaking in has worst consequences if your caught than it's worth going in there. I hold all my rules to the upmost standards and expect them to be followed. Is that clear?" she looked down at Hermione.

Hermione nodded seriously, knowing this was not someone to make angry.

"Good," she said giving Hermione another look over. "I believe the books you may be interested in are near the front of the library."

She gave Hermione one more look before turning around and walking away. Hermione quickly walked away from the Restricted Section and breathed a sigh of relief, grateful she hadn't gotten in trouble. After looking over the books for a while longer and still not knowing what to check out Hermione decided to come back tomorrow after she had time to think it over. Stomach grumbling she left the library and headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.

At supper the talk was all about how glad everyone was it the weekend and how much they liked or didn't like a certain lesson or teacher. Hermione noticed a lot of students were complaining about Professor Snape and the amount of homework the Professors were handing out even though it was still the beginning of term. Hermione didn't say anything but she thought they hadn't been given enough homework.

Farther down the table a group of students were laughing at something the red haired twins did in class earlier that day. She didn't know their names but saw they were fairly popular and figured it might have something to do with the pranks it was rumored they liked to pull. Hermione had a hard time believing older students could act that immature. Weren't they serious about their education? After listening to their story Hermione didn't think they were; nor did they care if they got in trouble.

Apparently during Charms the class was just beginning to practice directing flying objects with their wands when one of the twins directed a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean directly into a third year Slytherin's nostril where it got stuck. Their whole audience was laughing as they described how much he resembled a monkey doing a bad dance trying to get it out.

Hermione was shocked. Even though she thought it was somewhat funny, and she didn't like _any_ of the Slytherins first through seventh years, didn't they realize how much trouble they could have gotten into? Or worse; how many points they could cost Gryffindor? "Honestly," she thought rolling her eyes, "people can be so childish."

After dinner Hermione followed a group of Gryffindors back up to the common room trying to decide what she should do when she got there. She thought about going back to the library and just randomly choosing a book, but it was getting darker outside and she didn't feel comfortable walking around the school at night quite yet. She was also sure it was frowned upon by the teachers if students were out of their dormitories or common room after a certain hour. She didn't have any homework to do since she had already finished it, and she didn't want to write another letter to her parents quite yet knowing they would get worried if she wrote two letters in one day, and it was much too early to go to bed yet. "Maybe I can look over my homework, recheck it and then study ahead for the next lessons," she reasoned.

When they reached the portrait hole Hermione realized that was all she really could do; well that or be bored. When she opened the girl's dormitory door she heard Lavender and Parvati giggling over something. For a second she thought about maybe staying up there and hanging out with them until she realized they were giggling over something in _Witch Weekly. _As quickly as that thought entered her mind it left. Grabbing her bag she walked down back to the common room, and found an empty table near the back of the room.

She had only been studying for a few minutes when she saw Neville and the other first year boys reading the bulletin board and groaning. Curious, she walked over to look at it. She first thought Neville was pinning up a lost notice for Trevor, as he was still losing him what seemed like constantly, but then she saw the notice that made the boys groan and Hermione's stomach do flip flops.

_Attention First Years:_

_You will all begin your flying lessons this Thursday at 3:45 sharp. You will meet down on the school grounds and will be learning with Slytherin. _

Signed:

Professor McGonagall

Flying? Hermione knew she would eventually have to learn it but did they have to learn so soon? And why did they have to learn with the Slytherins? That just made it worse. She had never been good at sports, and gym had always been her worst subject in school. Getting frustrated with the boys behind her who were now talking about Quidditch and how well they could already fly she rolled her eyes and walked back to her table. "Was Quidditch all they ever talked about?" she huffed back at her table. It seemed like someone, somewhere, sometime, was always talking about Quidditch. Whether it was hoping their house won the Quidditch Cup, hoping they got on their house team, or even how well their Quidditch team was doing in the league; if you didn't know what Quidditch was when you arrived at Hogwarts you certainly learned fast enough.

She didn't pay very close attention to the Quidditch talk but she knew enough to know it was a game played on broomsticks and the players had to get a large red ball into one of three different hoops without getting knocked of their broom by two other balls. It somewhat reminded her of basketball with three hoops instead of one.

"Well, at least that answered one question," she thought grimly. Tomorrow she would be looking for a book about flying and Quidditch when she returned to the library. She knew one couldn't learn how to fly from a book but she could still try. "Who knows?" she thought going back to her Transfiguration book, "maybe it'll help me somewhat." But nonetheless she was not looking forward to Thursday.

**Author's Note: Hoped you liked it! Chapter 6 coming soon! (Hopefully)**

**Thank you to Evanescent Wishes for the awesome reviews, and also to Harry Potter Wiki for the information on where classroom, the library, etc. are located. **


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. Hope you like it!**

Chapter 6

Hermione slowly woke up the next morning. "What to do today?" she thought looking at her watch. She already had planned to go to the library and research flying. "I'll probably find something related to Quidditch too," she thought. She hoped she could find a book that focused on both subjects simultaneously since reading about the two separate subjects did not sound like it would be much fun.

Sitting up and stretching she slowly got out of bed. "Maybe I should learn how to knit or something," she thought putting on a skirt and jumper. Since it was the weekend students didn't have to wear their uniforms and even though Hermione loved her uniform she decided to wear regular clothing. She looked over at Lavender and Parvati who were still sleeping. She left quietly so she didn't wake them and went down to breakfast.

She was extremely glad she could now find the Great Hall by herself and not get lost. It really did make things much easier when you actually knew where the place you were going to was actually located. Otherwise you became very frustrated very fast.

When she entered the Great Hall the first thing she noticed was how sparsely populated it was. There were only a few handfuls of students at each table, and very few first years. "Well obviously," she told herself, "it is the weekend."

Sitting down she helped herself to some toast and looked around the Great Hall. The ceiling was showing signs it was going to be a sunny, and cool September day. After breakfast she attempted to find the library again. She was very pleased with herself when she found it quickly, and without getting lost.

Smiling she entered the library and felt her smile grow as she looked at all the books again. Maybe it was just her imagination but she thought it looked like there were more books now then there was last night. She peered around seeing if she could find the librarian; she didn't want to get yelled at again like she had last night. Not seeing her Hermione walked around looking at the different sections, brushing her fingers lightly over the different titles. She saw so many she would love to read and was very tempted to give up her search for flying and Quidditch and just start reading _Transfiguration for the Advanced Student; Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry; Muggles and Magic; Similar Myths and Discoveries_, and many more.

"No, focus," she scolded herself. "First find something to help you with flying then you can look at something else."

It didn't take her long to find plenty of books relating to flying. There were books about broomsticks, and the history of flying, and other forms of flying from around the world, as well as books solidarity about Quidditch. There were books explaining different plays that could be used, books that took a very in-depth look into the sport, the history of Quidditch, and biographies of teams and Quidditch stars. After browsing for a few minutes she decided on _Quidditch Through the Ages. _Looking it over she thought it looked short enough but still gave information in detail.

"If this doesn't help me learn to fly, at least I can show everyone I understand and have some knowledge of Quidditch," she thought sitting down at a table. "I'm sure there are bound to be some interesting facts and information in here."

Opening it she read a warning Madam Pince had written at the bottom of the first page.

_A Warning: If you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop or in any other manner damage, mistreat, or show lack of respect towards this book, the consequences will be as awful as it is within my power to make them. _

_ Irma Pince, Hogwarts Librarian_

Hermione would _never_ mistreat or damage a book in any way, shape, or form, but she did not want to find out what the consequence would be if someone were too. Rolling her eyes at people who were actually stupid enough to damage or misuse books in any way she turned the page and began to read.

A little bit later she sighed and set down the book. It was true that she did find some interesting facts and a couple flying tips here and there, but other than that it was just too boring. Deciding she would check it out, and later study it during her free time-which was probably going to be later that day-she walked back over to the shelves to find a book on a completely different subject. "This sounds much more exciting," she thought pulling out _Transfiguration for the Advanced Student_. Going back to her table she realized this was similar to her routine at home. Usually during the weekends, summer and other holidays she would either sit up in her room or some other place around the house and read since she didn't really go out much. Sometimes her parents offered to bring her to work with them but she always refused since sitting in a dentist's office was much more boring than being at home, and it sometimes got awkward when people Hermione knew came in, especially kids from her class. She felt somewhat comforted and somewhat depressed by this thought but it soon disappeared as she opened to the first chapter.

_Chapter 1: Animagi_

Hermione smiled. She knew what that was. An Animagus was a witch or wizard who could turn themselves into a certain animal by will without a wand or incantation. Professor McGonagall was one; she had shown Hermione the day she had explained her Hogwarts letter to her. _ "_This must be very advanced magic," she thought skimming over the description and the pictures of a transformation. She spotted a note at the bottom of the page and read it.

_ As of the year 1800 Witches and Wizards who possess the ability to transform into an animal through the magic of Animagi must register with the Improper Use of Magic Office within the Ministry of Magic. Failing to do this could earn that witch or wizard a sentence to Azkaban according to what the Ministry sees fit. _

Extremely interested she then went back to the top of the page and began to read it thoroughly. It was very difficult yet very intriguing. Since she only knew a few of the symbols and understood only bits and pieces of the text she knew they would not be learning this for a very long time.

She re-read the consequences of failing the process of transforming into an Animagi, grimacing at some of the pictures. If it were to go horribly wrong one could be stuck have an animal limb where a normal human limb should be or even worse,-and the pictures were very descriptive.

Putting the book away she decided it may be a bit to advanced for now but she would definitely have to remember that book for later in her studies. She knew she should probably be reading _Quidditch Through the Ages _ a bit more, but became distracted looking at the other books when she put _Transfiguration for the Advanced Student_ back. "I'll read it later," she thought grabbing _A_ _Magical History of Potions _and_ Charms Over the Ages _off the shelf. She went back to her table and kept reading until her stomach started to growl. She looked at her watch and gasped. It was way passed lunch. Dinner was going to be served in a few hours. She decided it was time to leave since she wanted to practice a couple new Charms and maybe a little Transfiguration before dinner. Putting back _A Magical History of Potions _she grabbed _Quidditch Through the Ages, _and _Charms Over the Ages _andwent to find the librarian so she could check them out. She didn't have to look very hard.

She slowly walked up to the desk, a little weary and unsure of the librarian. She reached it and gently put the books on top. Madam Pince was repairing a book with her wand and looked at Hermione with a look of suspicion. Hermione gave a small smile as Madam Pince picked up the books one at a time. Taking a small piece of parchment out of each of the books she tapped it twice, wrote down Hermione's name and due date and gave them back to her the suspicious look never leaving her face. Hermione gave a small smile then walked calmly but quickly away.

She walked slowly back up to Gryffindor Tower enjoying the beauty, magic, and mystery of Hogwarts. Once arriving at the girl's dormitories she realized it was empty. Wondering for a moment where Lavender and Parvati may be and whether she should practice some new charms or read some more, she settled in on her bed grabbed _Charms Through the Ages_ and turned to the page she left on in the library. She thought about folding the page dog ear style but after reading Madam Pince's warning she decided against it. She kept reading until her stomach started to growl again. Realizing it was dinner time she put away the book and walked down to the Great Hall.

She had been eating for a while when the Prefect boy she met earlier sat down near her. He smiled at her and Hermione excited to talk to someone who was very serious about their education directed her attention to him and was very happy when he seemed interested in what they were talking about.

"How do like it so far?" he asked her curiously.

"I love it. Although, personally I don't think us first years are given enough homework. And the homework we have been given has been rather easy, so I don't why some of the first years have been complaining."

He smiled and nodded knowingly.

"It was the same way my first year. The teachers just don't want to exceed your limits the first couple of weeks. But don't worry; eventually you're given much more. Especially in your fifth year, that's O.W.L. year. "

Hermione knew O.W.L.s stood for 'Ordinary Wizarding Levels' and they were very important. The scores you received on your O.W.L.s determined what classes you could take in your last years of Hogwarts and what jobs you may or may not qualify for.

"How are your classes going? Are you finding the classrooms okay?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "The classes are wonderful. Well except for Defense Against the Dark Arts, I don't really know what to think about that class quite yet. "

"I agree. Quirrell is a bit odd. I don't think his lessons are going to be very much help on the O.W.L.s. either. I'm sure they'll suffice but the book is much more informative. I've thought about checking out some books from the library as well, for extra reading, you know just to make sure I'm absolutely prepared for the exams. Have you been to the library yet?"

She nodded again. "Is Madam Pince always so…?" she didn't know how exactly to finish her sentence.

Percy shrugged understanding what she meant. "Just stay out of her way and don't mistreat the books and you'll be fine. I'd also advise you not to try to sneak stuff by her. A boy in my year did, a Slytherin, back in our first year. He tried to sneak in chocolate but she caught him and charmed his belonging to start attacking him."

Hermione looked a little shocked.

"But don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be fine, the boy was an idiot anyway," he added seeing Hermione's face.

She had just finished eating and was about to head back to the dormitories to attempt to read _Quidditch Through the Ages_ again when a thought struck her.

"Percy, flying isn't a subject you try to obtain an O.W.L. for, is it?" she asked somewhat nervously. She was nearly positive it wasn't, but just to make absolutely sure she figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Oh. I saw that first years would have flying lessons soon," he said. "No, it's not. And don't worry too much about it. It only goes for a few weeks and ends rather quickly."

She left the Great Hall feeling somewhat better but not entirely.

"At least you don't have it all year," she told herself. "It'll be over sometime around Halloween which isn't too bad since it's only once a week."

Returning to her dormitory she grabbed _Quidditch Through the Ages_ and read until she could barely keep her eyes open and the words were starting to run together. Closing the book she got ready for bed and fell asleep with Quidditch facts and notes in spinning around in her head.

**Author's Note: I really hope I'm making Hermione sound like Hermione and everything else sound convincing. I'm trying to make this as serious as possible. Chapter 7 coming soon! :)**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. Hope you like it!**

Chapter 7

When Hermione awoke the next morning she realized she had slept in. Somewhat annoyed she got out of bed, did her usual morning routine and went down to the common room. As much as she enjoyed sleeping in once in a while, she hated that every time she did the day didn't feel very productive and somewhat threw her off schedule. Seeing that the common room wasn't very full she decided now would be the perfect time to practice the switching spells they would be working on the next week in Transfiguration. A match into a needle was only the first step. Now they were going to work on switching small rocks into buttons, and then later on, buttons into spools of thread.

Grabbing her Transfiguration book and a rock she picked up walking back from a Herbology class last week, she went over to a far table to practice. Re-reading the chapter on switching spells she put the rock on the table in front of her.

"_Saxum Verto!" _she said tapping her wand on the rock.

Nothing.

She tried again.

Still nothing.

Getting a little annoyed she tried again.

"Relax," she told herself. "Focus, and stay calm."

" _Saxum Verto!"_ Nothing. Rolling her eyes and getting a little huffy she skimmed over the chapter again. According to the book she was doing everything right. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a minute she calmed down and decided to try a few more times. If she didn't accomplish it then, then she would take a break and come back to it later. Turning her attention back to the rock she focused all her attention, tapped her wand on it and tried again.

"_Saxum Verto!"_

She smiled wide as the rock magically changed into a button in front of her eyes. After a couple tries of trying to reserve the spell she was soon able to change the rock into a button and vice versa on the first try. Pleased with herself that she had mastered it and had killed time as well, she put her Transfiguration book away along with the rock and headed down to the Great Hall for an early dinner. She was debating whether or not to go ahead and practice turning a button into a spool of thread after dinner. She decided she wouldn't attempt it tonight just in case it affected her ability to transfigure a rock into a button. She wanted to make sure she would be able to do on the first try tomorrow during Transfiguration class.

Down at the Great Hall she listened to some students complain about it being the end of the weekend; or the amount of homework they put off until the last minute, and now would be up nearly all night working on it.

"I mean, honestly, four feet of parchment on Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. Why does she have to do this so early in the term?"

"Snape's gonna kill me. I haven't even looked at the book."

" What's the point? Slimy Git will make us suffer through potions whether we read the assignment or not."

"What was Elfric the Eager known for again? I could've sworn Professor Binns mentioned something about a quiz…"

Although Hermione didn't say anything she was quite happy tomorrow was Monday and classes resumed. She thought they were a bit more interesting then what she did over the weekend, and wanted to move on to the more advanced stuff. And besides "isn't it obvious that you shouldn't leave homework until the last minute," she thought rolling her eyes. She was willing to bet a few first years hadn't done their homework either.

Before bed that night, she re-checked over her homework to make sure everything was finished, practiced turning a rock into a button, (which she did on the first try) and read _Charms Over the Ages_ for a little bit before falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning when she woke up she quickly got dressed, grabbed her bag, and went down to the Great Hall excited for classes that day. Eating, she watched various students enter and watched the owls swooping around trying to find either their owner or the recipient of their package. Hermione had nearly forgotten she was expecting a reply from her parents and was little surprised when the tawny barn owl landed in front of her. Excited, she gently untied the letter and fed the bird some bites of bacon before it hooted and flew off. Ignoring the rest of her food she began to read it.

_Dear Hermione, _

_ You're father and I are so happy you're enjoying school sweetheart. Your lessons sound fascinating, and I'm sure you'll have much to tell us when you're home for the Holidays. _

_ We miss you terribly but other than that everything is going fine. We've had quite a few people ask about you, and we told them you were accepted to a special school in Scotland where students are exclusively selected. I'm not sure how many actually believe us, but that's not important. The only thing that is important is that you love school and are working hard. _

_ The clinic is doing very well. Parents are bringing in their children for their before school checkup. You're father and I are seeing many cavities from children who ate a little too much sugar over the summer and decided to not brush their teeth. The busyness of work is nice but it's not the same coming home and not having you being here. _

_ I'm sorry there isn't much to write about, darling. You just have so much more going on. Anyways sweetheart, keep up your amazing studying habits, which I have no doubt you will, and try to have some fun during your free time. Keep up the wonderful detailed letters of your classes, you're father and I loved reading your last one, and are extremely proud of you. Please don't worry too much about your flying lessons; I have no doubt in my mind you will do perfectly fine. And remember you can come home any time you wish. _

_All our love, _

_Mum and Dad. _

_P.S. This is very new experience writing on parchment and the owl that delivered your letter was a very well behaved._

Smiling, and feeling a little homesick she re-read the letter a couple times before folding it up and heading to Charms class. Professor Flitwick spent the whole class time explaining what could go wrong even with simple charms if the correct wand movement and incantation are not properly done. Since many charms may be used many times a day, sometimes witches and wizards become too lazy to enunciate properly or wave their wand in the correct form; which can sometimes lead to disastrous results.

"An example class, that I hope you remember," squeaked Professor Flitwick, "is Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Hermione made sure to remember that example, thinking it would be rather unpleasant to have a buffalo on one's chest. After class Hermione headed straight to Transfiguration. She knew she would be a bit early and have to wait a little while but she didn't mind. They had a small break in between so the first years didn't walk to classes in groups very much anymore. Now that they knew were nearly all their classes were, they started walking to them separately.

When Hermione reached the classroom she sat down in her usual spot in the front row and watched as other students filed in. She listened to the small talk the students were making and sat up straighter as Professor McGonagall walked in, and the talking stopped.

"Good morning class."

"Good morning Professor," they answered.

"Please get out your books and take out your quills. Before we begin today's lesson I want you to copy pages 25 and 26 out of your books, the notes on the board and then answer the following questions. I'm hoping this may help some of you when we actually practice today," she said glancing in Neville's general direction.

"You have 30 minutes and what you don't get done will be homework. Any questions before you begin?"

One of the boys in back raised his hand.

"Um, I heard you can turn into an animal. Is that true?" he asked kind of stupidly like he didn't believe that was possible.

"It's called Animagi," thought Hermione rolling her eyes annoyed. "And how is _that_ related to anything we're talking about?" She fought the urge to turn around and look at the person who asked such a stupid question.

Professor McGonagall peered at him over her glasses.

"When I asked if anyone had questions, I assumed they would be somewhat related to the assignment but yes, I can transform into an animal. I am a registered Animagus, meaning I can turn myself into a cat at will- with or without my wand. You will study more about that form of Transfiguration your third year. Any more questions? Then you may begin."

There was a rustling of parchment and book pages turning before the familiar sound of scratching quills. After a few moments of making sure the students were writing, she gave a small smile, transfigured herself into a cat, and jumped on her desk peering at the students with her sharp eyes. The students momentarily awestruck by this looked around and smiled at each other before turning quickly back to the assignment. Even as a cat it seemed Professor McGonagall had a way of controlling the room.

It couldn't have been more than ten minutes and Hermione only had a few more questions left. Pleased with herself she glanced up at Professor McGonagall and the board making sure she had the notes right to answer the next question. She was about to answer the question when she heard the classroom door open. Looking behind her she saw Harry and Ron running into the classroom, and not doing it quietly either. "Idiots," she thought rolling her eyes. _Honestly._

"Whew, made it," said Ron sounding a little out of breath. "Can you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if we were late?"

Hermione glanced up and saw Professor McGonagall jump off the desk and change back into her human form.

"That was bloody brilliant," said Ron amazed.

"Well, thank you for that assessment Mr. Weasley," she responded. "Perhaps it would be more useful to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch? That way one of you might be on time."

"We got lost," said Harry looking a little nervous.

"Then perhaps a map? I trust you don't need one to find your seats."

Harry and Ron looked at each other looking relieved as they sat down and Professor McGonagall walked back to the front of the class.

"Serves them right," thought Hermione finishing her questions.

When time was up Hermione was the only who had finished the assignment.

"I will be collecting them first thing in class tomorrow, so they better be done," she said looking around at them. "Now put away your books and take out your wands. Today we will be starting to practice turning a small rocks and stones into a buttons."

Hermione sat up straighter when she was given a small rock. She knew she could do this.

"The incantation is _Saxum Verto._ Good luck."

Soon the entire class was filled with students saying the incantation but having no luck. Hermione took a deep breath, relaxed her shoulders, and did exactly what she had practiced.

"_Saxum Verto!" _she said tapping her rock. Hermione watched excitedly as the rock magically transfigured in front of her eyes. The students around her just stared in wonderment; how did she do that? She sat up a litter taller and smiled; proud of her now shiny black button. Professor McGonagall walked over to her desk and smiled when she saw the button.

"Excellent Ms. Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor."

Hermione left class that day in a very good mood.

* * *

Her good mood lasted nearly the whole week. When she woke up Thursday morning she couldn't understand why she had such an upset feeling in her stomach. Then it hit her. Today was the day she would learn to fly.

After getting dressed she slowly walked down to the Great Hall trying to ignore the butterflies flying around her stomach. She picked at her food to nervous to actually eat it. Running through her mind were all the flying tips she had picked up in _Quidditch Through the Ages_, which she shared that day at breakfast, mostly for Neville who was just as nervous as Hermione and hanging on her every word.

She was just about to get into what one should do if they are starting to fall off their broomstick when she was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. She wasn't expecting anything and decided not to write back to her parents for a little while, just in case they wondered why she was writing to them so often. She knew they loved getting her letters, but they would worry if she wrote to often, and she didn't feel like coming up with an explanation for why she wrote so many.

She watched with interest as a brown barn owl dropped a small package in front of Neville. He opened it excitedly holding up a glass ball about the size of a large marble that was filled with white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he said excitedly. "Gran knows I forget things –this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red- oh…"

Hermione watched as Neville's face fell and the smoke inside the Remembrall turn scarlet.

"…you've forgotten something…"

She looked at Neville with a somewhat pitiful look on her face as he tried to figure out what he had forgotten. She, of course knew what a Remembrall was, she had read all about them, but she doubted whether Neville would be able to remember what he'd forgotten.

While he was trying to figure it out when a Slytherin boy with a pale face and silvery blond hair grabbed it out of his hand while he had been passing Gryffindor table. Hermione didn't know his name but she recognized him from potions as the boy Snape kept praising. She glared at him and saw Harry and Ron jump to their feet- both with angry looks on their face.

It was almost instantly Professor McGonagall was standing next to them.

"What's going on?" she asked seriously.

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor," answered Neville timidly.

"Just looking," he said scowling, dropping it back on the table. He walked away with two other large Slytherin first years behind him. Professor McGonagall watched them go, glared at Harry, Ron, and Neville, in a very strict and warning manner then walked back to the teachers' table.

"Boys. Honestly," thought Hermione going back to picking at her breakfast still too nervous to eat.

She was anxious during all of her classes. She was glad they weren't practicing wand work today in Charms or Transfiguration since she didn't even know if she could concentrate enough to be successful. She was especially nervous during History of Magic. Flying was her next class and Professor Binns's lectures were probably the worst to help you take your mind off your problems. Hermione really did try to listen but she was too nervous and the lesson was just too boring.

At three-thirty that afternoon Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors down onto the school grounds. It was perfect flying weather-clear and breezy. Frowning, she knew there was no way the class was going to be canceled.

When the Gryffindors arrived they saw the Slytherins already there, along with a bunch of broomsticks. Hermione's stomach did an extra flip flop when she saw them. Their teacher Madam Hooch arrived shortly after.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked at them, her yellow hawk eyes looking over them. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

The class hurriedly stood next to a broom. Hermione looked down at hers. It was obvious it was old, and judging by the angles the twigs were in had probably been used many times.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," instructed Madam Hooch, "and say 'Up!"

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Hermione's started to roll on the ground. She looked around at everyone else. Neville's hadn't moved but Harry's jumped right into his hand! "How did he do that?" she thought. She turned her attention back to her broom.

"With feeling!" said Madam Hooch watching the students.

"Up!" said Hermione over and over. All it did was roll on the ground. She was starting to get a little desperate. Over half the class were now holding broomsticks in their hands.

"Up!" she nearly yelled. And then she felt it jump into her hand. She caught it, surprised, but relieved.

"Now once you've got a hold of your broom, I want you to mount it-and grip it tight! You don't want to be sliding off the end."

She walked around examining and correcting everyone's grip.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground hard," instructed Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, hover for a moment then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle- three-two-"

Hermione prepared herself for when the whistle blew, but she got distracted when she saw Neville start rising off the ground. Frightened he would be the only person left on the ground, he accidently pushed off before Madman Hooch's had blown her whistle.

There was a collection of gasps and cries of "Neville!" from the other students as he rose higher and higher.

"Come back, boy," ordered Madam Hooch. "Mr., Long-Mr. Longbottom. Come back down this instant!" They heard Neville desperately trying to order the broomstick down, but it was no use. He rose higher and higher while the other students could only watch. He couldn't have been in the air for more than a minute when Hermione watched in horror as he fell off his broom and landed with a dull thud and a nasty cracking noise.

Madam Hooch ran toward him, "Everyone out the way!"

The Gryffindors stood around, looking at each other wondering if he was alright.

"Oh dear, it's a broken wrist," said Madam Hooch soothingly as she examined Neville. "Good boy. Come on now, up we get," she said helping Neville up. "Everyone is to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. Understand?" ordered Madam Hooch. "If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out Hogwarts before they can say Quidditch."

No sooner was Madam Hooch out of earshot the Slytherins broke out in laughter.

"Did you see his face? The great lump," laughed the boy Hermione recognized as Malfoy.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati coming to Neville's defense.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?"said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced, mean Slytherin girl. "Never thought _you'd_ like fat little cry-babies, Parvati."

Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindors glared at her.

"Look!" said Malfoy grabbing something out of the grass.

Hermione recognized it as Neville's Remembrall.

"It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." He held it up and it glittered in the sun. "Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he would've remembered to fall on his fat ass."

"Give it here, Malfoy," said Harry pushing through the little group of Slytherins.

Hermione watched in nervous anticipation as Malfoy gave a nasty smile.

"No. I'll think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find-how about –up a tree?"

Malfoy kicked off from the ground and rose much more gracefully and controlled the broom much better then Neville had.

"What's the matter, Potter? Bit beyond your reach?" he asked taunting Harry and throwing and catching the Remembrall in one hand.

Hermione saw Harry grab his broomstick. She had to stop him before he did something stupid they would all regret later and get them all in trouble.

"No! Harry, no way! You heard what Madam Hooch said. Besides, you don't even know how to fly,"

Completely ignoring her he kicked hard off the ground and flew up after Malfoy.

"What an idiot."

"Fine," she thought. "If he wants go and get himself expelled for doing something stupid, that's his fault. He better not lose points for Gryffindor though."

Harry was already a good height up, but he pointed his broomstick and went even higher. Hermione gasped and heard screams and gasps from other girls as well. Ron let out an admiring whoop.

She could tell they were talking but it was hard to distinguish from so far below. She watched anxiously as Harry shot toward Malfoy, and him getting out the way in the nick of time.

"Catch if you can, then!" she heard Malfoy shout, and watched in horror as Malfoy threw the glass ball and Harry shoot after it. The Remembrall was falling quickly and it looked like Harry was picking up speed as he dived down after it. Hermione wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't keep them off Harry. He was going to crash! She saw him reach out his arm and pulled his broom straight right before he would've hit the ground, allowing him to gently topple onto the grass completely unharmed.

The entire class ran toward him cheering, clapping him on the back and telling him good job. Even Hermione got caught up in the excitement. The Gryffindors were ecstatic, Harry had done it!

"HARRY POTTER!"

The cheering stopped immediately as Professor McGonagall walked toward them, her eyes flashing furiously. Hermione suddenly felt very guilty and disgusted with herself after participating in the cheering. She knew he was breaking a major rule, and yet she cheered when he succeeded. She kept her head down and watched Professor McGonagall scold Harry.

"_Never_-in all my time at Hogwarts-" She seemed nearly speechless yet her anger was obvious. "-how _dare_ you- might have broken your neck-"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor-" began Parvati.

"Be quiet, Miss Patil-"

"But Malfoy-" started Ron.

"That's _enough,_ Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."

The class watched as Harry followed McGonagall back to the castle. Hermione could hear some of the Slytherins laughing at Harry's retreating back. Although she absolutely _loathed_ Slytherin, she couldn't feel bad for Harry. He _did_ break a direct rule from a teacher, and he got caught. What did he think was going to happen? "I told him," she thought as she spotted Madam Hooch walking back toward the group returning without Neville.

"Class wasn't too bad," Hermione thought relieved, as she and the other Gryffindors walked to the Great Hall for dinner. All Madam Hooch had them do was hover a bit and then fly in a small circle not high off the ground. She was expecting worse, but she thought the easiness of the lesson could have had something to do with Harry and Neville. Perhaps Madam Hooch didn't want to take the risk of anything else happening in her class that was not part of her original lesson plan.

As she entered the Great Hall, she noticed Harry sitting at the table. "Didn't he get expelled?" she thought, looking at him. She was shocked; he looked _happy_; bored, but happy nonetheless. Curious about what was going on Hermione sat a little distance away. Close enough to hear, but far enough to pretend she wasn't paying attention.

"You're _joking," _she heard Ron say_-_his voice full of awe.

Joking about what? She listened closer.

"_Seeker?" _he said. "But first years _never _-you must be the youngest house player in about-"

"-a century. Wood told me."

Hermione wasn't sure she was hearing this correctly. She knew seeker was a position on a Quidditch team-they flew around and tried to catch a gold winged ball, but first years never made the house teams. And besides that he had broken the rules, and surely he wasn't being _rewarded_ for it. Was he?

She watched as the two red-haired twins walked over to Harry and started talking to him. She thought she heard one of them say Beater-which was another spot on a Quidditch team. She strained to listen closer, but it was harder with all four them to hear anything. She hoped they would leave soon so she could go back to listening to Harry's and Ron's conversation.

It was only a few moments after they left Hermione saw the Malfoy boy accompanied by the two other large, and burly Slytherin first years he had with him when he first took Neville's Remembrall.

"Having a last meal, Potter?" When are you getting the train back to eh Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," Hermione heard Harry tell Malfoy coolly. She watched closely. They all knew they couldn't do anything but glare and crack their knuckles since they were in the view of the High Table which was full of teachers.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only-no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

Hermione gasped. "They can't have a wizard's duel," she thought. "Those are meant to kill. I do hope Harry isn't stupid enough to actually agree."

"Of course he has," retorted Ron glaring at Malfoy. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

Hermione was shocked. "They can't be _serious_. They're not that dumb. They could get in so much trouble."

"Crabbe," said Malfoy. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

Now Hermione was just annoyed instead of shocked. "Don't they realize how much trouble they could get the whole Gryffindor house in. How many points they would lose?" she thought angrily. "Are they really that stupid." She decided to go find out.

"Excuse me," she said moving over to them. They looked at her.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron looking at her annoyed.

Hermione ignored him and turned to Harry.

"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying-"

"Bet you could," muttered Ron.

Hermione quickly glared at him, but kept her attention on Harry.

"-and you _mustn't_ go wandering around the school at night, think of all the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"And it's really none of your business," replied Harry.

"Goodbye-bye," said Ron, as he and Harry left the table.

Hermione stood there frustrated and annoyed. Why were they such idiots? She couldn't let them go through with this. She doubted they would, they would get to scared and chicken out at the last second; but nonetheless she decided she better stay up, just to make sure.

**Authors Note: Hope you liked it. Once again I used lines from both the book and the movie. I also slightly changed the sequence of events. In the movie it goes the Transfiguration lesson, potions, then flying, but the book has potions first and I'm trying to follow the book as close as possible. Chapter 8 coming soon. :) **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter 8

After supper, Hermione sat in the common room doing her homework contemplating whether or not she should really wait up to see if Harry and Ron actually followed through with their stupid plan.

"I could tell Percy," she thought reading over what she wrote on her Charms paper. "He _is_ a prefect, but…" She was sure he would stop them, but if he didn't she didn't want him to think she was a tattle tale or something. After all, Ron was his brother. She would also feel like a complete idiot if she told Percy about it and Harry and Ron didn't follow through. That would just be humiliating.

Getting angry she put away her Charms and grabbed her Potions book. "Why do they have be so stupid," she thought, opening up to the assigned page. "They are going to lose Gryffindor a bunch points, and all because they're selfish idiots."

Fuming, she decided she wouldn't tell Percy, but she would wait for them and if they attempted to actually do it, she would somehow find a way to stop them.

That night Hermione just laid in bed waiting. She could hear Lavender and Parvati, and judging by the sounds they were making they were both fast asleep. At eleven o'clock she quietly got up, put on her bathrobe, grabbed a book and went down to the common room to wait.

"_Idiots,_" she thought angrily sitting in a chair. She realized she had forgotten her wand and debated whether or not she should grab it. There was a lamp next to her so she decided against it and turned on the lamp to see the pages of her book.

She tried to read, but angry thoughts kept running through her head. "Why are they pushing their luck? Especially Harry. Doesn't he think it's lucky enough he didn't get expelled for that stupid stunt in flying lessons? They both are very selfish. Maybe I should go tell Percy…"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footprints trying to walk quietly down the stone steps. She quickly turned off the lamp.

She couldn't believe it! They were actually following through with this stupid idea. She waited until they were at the portrait hole. Maybe, just maybe, they might get some sense before leaving Gryffindor Tower. As she heard the footsteps get closer to the portrait hole she knew that wasn't going to happen.

"I can't believe you're doing this, Harry," she said lighting the nearby lamp.

"_You!" _said Ron angrily. "Go back to bed."

Hermione ignored him. Who did he think he was?

"I almost told your brother. Percy-he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

"Come on," said Ron, ignoring Hermione and pushing open the Fat Lady.

Hermione rolled her eyes, huffed, and followed them out of the portrait hole. Harry had a look of disbelieve and annoyance all over his face but she didn't care.

"Don't you _care_ about Gryffindor, do you _only_ care about yourselves, _I_ don't want Slytherin to with the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells." She smiled inwardly at this memory. Professor McGonagall awarded her 20 points for successfully transfiguring a rock into a button and answering all the questions correctly.

"Go away."

She gave up. Fine, if they want to ruin the rest of their lives all because of some stupid duel thing, let them. Why should she care?

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so-"

She stopped mid-sentence looking at the now empty portrait frame. The Fat Lady must've gone off on a nighttime stroll. Now what would she do!

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly. Students out of bed was definitely against the rules, even if it was because they were attempting to stop other students from doing stupid things.

"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go; we're going to be late."

Hermione glared at him. She really could not stand that boy. Starting to panic she decided the best thing to do was follow them and tell the truth if they were caught. She didn't really like the idea but it was much better than standing outside the common room waiting for the Fat Lady to come back, or worse-Filch. She caught up with them just before they reached the end of the corridor.

"I'm coming with you," she said in matter of fact tone.

"You are _not,_" growled Ron angrily.

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

She knew they wouldn't like the plan, but she didn't care.

"You've got some nerve-" started Ron loudly.

"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something."

Hermione heard it too. It sounded like _sniffling. _

"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron trying to see through the darkness.

Hermione was taken aback when they found out it wasn't Mrs. Norris-it was Neville. He looked as though he was asleep but he jumped awake as she, Harry, and Ron moved closer.

"Thank goodness you've found me!" he said clearly relived. "I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."

Hermione looked at him pitifully. He couldn't remember the password?

"Keep your voice down, Neville," said Harry. "The new password's 'pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."

"How's your arm?" he asked.

"Fine, Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute," he said showing them.

"Good-well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later-"

"Don't leave me!" cried Neville, scrambling to his feet. "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

Ron glared at Neville and Hermione angrily.

"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. The Curse of the Bogies, really? She doubted if he even knew how to perform it correctly. She was about to ask him if he even knew the correct incantation, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet.

They ran along the corridors, listening for any sound of that would warn them of an approaching person. Filch, in particular. Hermione was relieved when they reached the trophy room undetected. She looked around at the silver and gold that glittered in the darkness, and waited, nervously, for Malfoy and some other boy to show up. She knew they weren't going to. Wasn't it obvious? She glared at Harry and Ron about to say something when they heard a noise. For a moment she thought it was Malfoy, but then she heard a voice and her mouth went dry.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner," she heard Filch say—probably to Mrs. Norris.

Harry madly waved at her, Ron, and Neville to follow him, and they did so quickly without saying anything. They had just whipped around a corner when Filch walked into the area they were standing in moments before.

"They're in here somewhere, probably hiding."

Hermione's legs started to shake and mouth was getting dryer.

"This way!" Harry mouthed, and very quietly and terrified they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. Hermione could hear Filch getting closer. Too close. They would get caught for sure!

Neville panicked, let out a frightened squeak, and tried to break into a run. Hermione just knew something was going to happen, and it did. Neville ended up tripping and grabbed Ron around the waist to keep falling, the both of them toppling right into suit of armor. The clanging and clashing sounded near ear-deafening to Hermione and she froze for a millimeter of a second before Harry shouted.

"RUN!" yelled Harry, as she, Ron, and Neville followed him.

Hermione was to terrified to look back to see if Filch was following them, she just wanted to get as far away as possible from the suit of armor. She didn't even know where she was running now. She followed Harry through one corridor then another, and then through a tapestry which led to a secret passageway which ended near the Charms classrooms. Trying to catch her breath, Hermione looked around grateful. She knew the Charm classrooms were miles away from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him," said Harry panting. Hermione held the stitch in her side, and Neville was bent over wheezing and spluttering. Hermione was furious.

"I-_told_-you, I—told –you."

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, ignoring Hermione, "quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you," said Hermione turning to Harry. "You realize that, don't you? He was never going to meet you—Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

"Let's go," was all he said.

Hermione still furious followed closely behind him. They hadn't walked more than a few feet when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. Hermione groaned inwardly. "Could this get _any_ worse?" she thought.

It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up, Peeves—pleas—you'll get us thrown out."

Peeves just cackled gleefully.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

Hermione glanced behind her nervously, this was wasting time.

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves solemnly, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for you own good, you know."

Ron had had enough. "Get out of the way," he snapped, taking a swipe at Peeves. Hermione knew instantly that was huge mistake.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDER!" bellowed Peeves.

Ducking under Peeves they bolted for the end of the corridor where they ran into a door. After an attempt to open it, they realized it was locked.

"This is it!" moaned Ron, pale, as all four of them pushed against the door. "We're done for! This is the end!"

They could hear Filch's footsteps and knew they were going to get caught soon if something didn't happen. Hermione felt a mix of fear and hate wash over her, then she spotted Harry's wand in his hand.

"Oh, move over," she snarled, grabbing Harry's wand. She knew she could do this spell. She tapped the lock and whispered _"Alohomora!"_

They heard the lock click and the door swung open. Hurriedly they ran inside the room, shut the door, and pushed their ears right up against it trying to ignore their racing heartbeat.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" they heard Filch asked. "Tell me quick."

Hermione bit her lip, and pushed her ear harder against the door.

"Say 'please'", said Peeves. They could tell he was enjoying this.

"Don't mess with me, Peeves. Now _where did they go_?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in a cheerful singsong way.

"All right—please," said Filch sourly.

"NOTHING!" Peeves yelled laughing. "Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaa!"

Hermione let out a quiet breath of relief when she heard Filch walk away cursing. He must think this door is locked.

"He thinks this door is locked," whispered Harry to the others. "I think we'll be okay—get _off_, Neville!"

Neville had apparently been holding on to Harry's bathrobe sleeve. "_What?" _

Hermione turned away from the door and then saw why Neville had been holding on to Harry's sleeve. Standing, glaring at them was a monstrous three headed dog. Hermione felt her mouth go dry again, and any relief she had been feeling before immediately left. "Could this get any worse?" she thought staring at the fierce, rolling pairs of eyes, and the saliva that was drooling out of their mouths. She knew the only reason they weren't dead yet was because they had taken it by surprise. Hermione swallowed, and tried to see behind the animal to see if there was some escape route. The dog's body was too big for her to see around but she did notice it was standing on a trapdoor. "_That's odd._" She thought. "Why would he be on a trapdoor."

The thought had only been in her head a fleeting second before the dog started to snarl, and growl menacingly at them. Hermione made up her mind. She would definitely take Filch over this. Harry must've been thinking the same thing because he grabbed the doorknob and all of them fell backward out the door, slammed the door shut and ran back down the corridor. Hermione didn't care about looking out for anyone, she just wanted to get away from that _thing._

They didn't slow down until they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked shocked. Hermione knew they must look like a fright. Their bathrobes were hanging off their shoulders, they were sweating, and gasping for breath.

"Never mind that—pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry.

The Fat Lady gave them a disapproving look but swung open. Hermione had never been so happy to be back in the common room. She slowly walked over to one of the arm chairs, trembling, and collapsed in it.

No one said anything. Neville looked as though he may never speak again. After a few minutes of silence Ron spoke up.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school? If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

Now that they had safely returned in one piece and without being caught, Hermione felt even angrier than before.

"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she said angrily. "Didn't you see what it standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry asked stupidly. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads," he said.

"Maybe you didn't notice, there were three," said Ron teaming up with Harry.

"No, _not_ the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor, which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something."

Honestly. Don't they use their eyes? She stood up angrily.

"Guarding something?" said Harry.

" Yes. Now if you two don't mind I'm going to bed, before either of you come up with another crazy idea to get us killed—or worse expelled."

She heard Ron say something as she walked away back up to the girl's dormitories but she didn't care. She didn't care if she never spoke to them again. As far as she was concerned the less time spent around them, the better. Still angry, she climbed into bed thankful they hadn't gotten caught. "Idiots." She thought angrily before falling asleep.

**Author's Note: Hope you liked it. Once again I used lines from the book instead and the movie but kept a lot of the scenes from the book since it is the original—so I figured I should stick to that. Also, all the lines I used from the book are not mine, they belong to JKR and the publishing companies. I just like to have fun with them. Chapter 9 coming soon. (Hopefully!)**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. Hope you like it!!**

Chapter 9

When Hermione woke up the next morning she had not forgotten her little adventure the night before. Seething, she got dressed. "How can anyone be so…so…UHG!" she thought rolling her eyes. She really couldn't stand them, especially Ron. Who did he think he was? He was just plain annoying, and rude. "Just ignore them," she told herself walking to breakfast. "If they're going to act like idiots, let them. Then they'll know you were right when they're on the train home."

At breakfast she planned what she was going to do that weekend. She would probably just do what she did last weekend, study ahead. She also decided to write to her parents again; she was sure they would want to hear about her flying lesson.

When she saw Harry and Ron she sat as far away from them as possible. She looked over at them once, glared at them angrily, and then turned her attention back to her food. The fact that she was ignoring them didn't seem to bother them in the least.

As usual, she turned her attention to the rush of owls as they flew in delivering their packages to their owners and recipients. Her eyes were immediately drawn to six screech owls carrying a thin, long, package. It looked as though they were heading to Gryffindor table. Hermione watched curiously. "What on Earth could it be?" she thought.

Her eyes opened in shock as the screech owls dropped the package in front Harry. Immediately after the owls took off, another owl dropped something that looked like a letter in front of Harry as well. Even though Hermione couldn't care less about Harry or Ron, her curiosity got the best of her and peered down the table trying to see what was happening.

"It almost looks like a—_broomstick,_" she thought. "But that's impossible. _Why _would Harry receive a broomstick? And who gave it to him? First years aren't even allowed broomsticks."

She knew he was most likely the new Gryffindor Quidditch team Seeker, but still. He wasn't being _rewarded_ for actually breaking the rules…was he? Thoughts and questions whirled around her mind as she watched Harry and Ron get up from the table and leave with the wrapped package tight in Harry's hand.

Hermione knew she shouldn't follow them. They would probably only infuriate her more, but her curiosity was overwhelming, so against her better judgment she got up and followed them out of the Great Hall.

They were walking rather quickly, and Hermione wanted to make sure they were still within eye -range. She assumed they were going to Gryffindor Tower, but she followed nonetheless.

She passed the Malfoy boy and his two cronies and heard him something about Harry and how he would definitely write to his father about this. She had lost sight of Harry of Ron and started to walk quicker in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

"Good morning, Ms. Granger."

Hermione jumped slightly. "Oh! Good morning, Professor Flitwick," she said feeling a bit embarrassed.

He just smiled at her and continued his way down to the Great Hall. Hermione then focused her attention once again on finding Harry and Ron. She had just reached the marble staircase and could hear voices higher up. Harry's and Ron's voice to be exact.

"…he stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team."

Hermione rolled her eyes. They were actually proud of breaking the rules, and getting rewarded for it. "Honestly," she thought angrily. "They must be two of the most selfish and rude boys ever."

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" she asked angrily when she caught up to them.

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.

"Yes, don't stop now. It's doing so much good," agreed Ron.

Hermione shot them an angry look then marched away with her nose in the air. "Idiots," she thought. "One of these days they're going to do something stupid, get caught and punished and then they'll know I was right," she thought hauntingly. She hoped she would be there when it happened.

When she entered the common room she decided to read up on her potions. She wanted to make sure her potion was perfect today. She didn't want to give Professor Snape a chance to dock points from her because of a stupid mistake which could ruin the potion. When it was time for Potions class, Hermione walked down to the dungeons and met the rest of the first years down there. Poor Neville looked absolutely terrified.

The class wasn't as bad as she thought it could've been. Her potion fit the description in the book perfectly, she knew the answers to the questions Snape had assigned them as homework, and even though Neville's potion was brown instead of gray at least his cauldron hadn't melted. She smiled a little when she heard Professor Snape criticized Harry's and Ron's mashed up mouse bones. She then frowned and rolled her eyes when she heard Ron angrily mutter something under his breath about how could there be a wrong a way to crush bones, and something else that sounded a lot like slimy git. She ignored all the insults Professor Snape handed out and was pleased he had never said one to her. The most he did when he passed her potion was look at it, frown a little, and move on. And even though she hadn't given up trying to answer questions in class, it didn't bother her anymore when Snape refused to call on her. She was in a very good mood by the end of class, and even Harry's and Ron's stupidity didn't annoy her.

She left class that afternoon thinking of her plans for the weekend. She knew she would write to her parents but she didn't know what to do after that, well besides study ahead. She figured it was going to be another weekend in the library. Not that there was anything wrong with that, she loved the library, but she felt a pang in her stomach anytime two or more of the students would play a game of exploding snap, or gossip about the latest _Witch Weekly _article and she would be on the sidelines watching.

"Oh well," she told herself ignoring the feeling in her stomach. "You're here for an education. Remember to stay focused on your studies. If you end up getting distracted you won't finish your homework, and then you'll regret it when you fail the class."

When she reached the common room she was trying to decide to do her potions homework first, or write to her parents. She decided to write to her parents first, then that way she could go to the Owlery on her way to the library the next day. Sitting down at a back table in a semi-quiet common room she took out a new piece of parchment and dipped her quill.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_ I loved your last letter. I am very glad to hear everything is well back at home. So far things are going fine at school, although I am rather disappointed in Harry Potter. Remember him? He and Ron Weasley (another first year Gryffindor) actually had the nerve to leave Gryffindor Tower at Midnight for some stupid wizard's duel, even though they both knew how much trouble they could get into, and how many points they could lose Gryffindor. _

_ Naturally, I tried to stop them, but they were too stupid to listen to me and the worst part was I actually followed them out of the common room trying to make them change their mind, and the Fat Lady left! So I ended up following them, and if we had gotten caught I would've just told whoever caught us the truth. We didn't get caught, thankfully, but it was extremely close to happening. I don't remember the last time I've been so scared! I have decided that I am just not going to talk to them. If they want to be stupid and get themselves expelled, fine, let them. _

_ Flying lessons were fine, not nearly as bad as I had imagined. Although, it was a bit hectic which could be why class was fairly simple. First, poor Neville fell of his broom and broke his wrist, and while Madam Hooch was taking him to Hospital Wing, Malfoy ( a bully first year Slytherin) insulted him and took his Remembrall his grandmother sent him which must have fallen out of his pocket. A Remembrall is a glass ball filled with clear smoke which turns red when the owner has forgotten something. It is definitely something Neville needs. But anyways, back to flying lessons. Madam Hooch told us specifically to stay on the ground, and if she sees anyone in the air they would be expelled, but neither the boy Malfoy nor Harry listened to her. Instead, Malfoy ended up goading Harry after Harry told him to give back Neville's Remembrall, and instead of waiting for Madam Hooch, or getting another Professor, Harry actually flew up after him! I thought for sure he was going to break his neck, but somehow not only did he manage to catch Neville's Remembrall after Malfoy threw it, but he also became the new Gryffindor Seeker. (That's a position in the popular Wizarding ball game Quidditch.) I would think that after pulling that stupid stunt would make him realize just how lucky he is to not be expelled, but then he actually goes through with the wizard duel. Honestly, for someone who defeated one of the darkest and most evil wizards of the age, he seems like an idiot. _

_On a better note, classes are going well. Professor McGonagall awarded me 20 points for knowing about switching spells, and I received top marks on my Charm's homework. Astronomy and Herbology are going well also, and Professor Sprout told us we will soon be learning about more advanced and interesting plants, which I'm rather excited about. I am a tad bit disappointed though about my Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I've read the entire textbook and it was fascinating, but Professor Quirrell is not a very good teacher. Potions is okay as well. I'm doing fine in it, but for some reason the potions professor; Professor Snape doesn't like anyone if they're not from Slytherin. Of course, he is Head of Slytherin house but still. _

_Anyways, I hope things are still going well at home and I can't wait to see you Christmas Holiday. Write back soon. _

_All my love, _

_Hermione_

Hermione read over it a few times and smiled sadly. She decided to not tell her parents about the giant three headed dog, or the trap door. She was sure they were worried enough about her without her mentioning that.

After finishing her letter she got out her Potions homework which was to write an essay on three important potion ingredients the good and bad qualities of each, and give examples of potions they are used in. "This won't be too bad," she thought pulling out _1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi. _

She had a feeling many of the other first years wouldn't agree with her, but she wished the Professors would start giving out more homework. Besides classes, it was really one of the only things she looked forward to. She heard once that the professors were just testing them, and once they were able to get down the basics then the teachers started piling the homework on. Hermione wasn't sure about the other first years, but she knew she was definitely ready for more homework.

She finished her potions essay, and went down to dinner. She saw Harry and Ron talking excitedly and rolled her eyes. _Honestly._ She didn't even want to know what they were talking about. She decided to sit next to Neville who was sitting next to Dean and Seamus. They talking about lessons and how, for some reason Seamus had a very good knack for blowing things up with his wand. Hermione was starting to enjoy the conversation, even if they did bad mouth some of the teachers at times, but she became annoyed very quickly when the topic went to Quidditch and Harry being the new Seeker. "Is that all they ever talk about?" she thought annoyed. "Boys!"

Finishing her supper she went back to the common room. Since she didn't have any homework, and the room was fairly quiet she grabbed _Hogwarts, A History, _and sat in one of the comfy chairs next to the fire. She decided when she went to the library the next day she would return _Quidditch Through the Ages_, but decided to keep _Charms Over the Ages. _She found it very interesting and she wanted to keep it just in case she didn't find anything very appealing the next day. Happy with her plans she got comfortable and started to read.

**Authors Note: I'm sorry it took me forever to upload. This chapter was really hard to write and I didn't want to upload crap, so I kept rewriting it and editing it, all that fun stuff. I'm having minor writer's block right now, and school is crazy but I'll try to upload a little faster. Also, within the next few chapters she's going to learn about Bluebell Flames, (the fire she carried around in a jam jar) and I need suggestions about how she gets the jam jar. So if anyone has ideas or suggestions that would be great. Same thing goes for spells and potions (and ingredients), if you have an idea I could maybe use, that'd be great. If you haven't noticed, I haven't mentioned many spells or potions the first years may learn. Sorry for the long A/N! Chapter 10 coming soon!! (Hopefully)**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next morning Hermione slowly opened her eyes. She laid in bed, still half asleep, smiling. It all felt so surreal. Getting up she quickly got dressed and did her morning routine. She tried to be as quiet as possible so she didn't wake Lavender or Parvati. After finishing her routine her stomach told her it was time for breakfast.

She had contemplated bringing her bag with her to the Great Hall so she could go to the library right after she ate, but decided against it. Nonetheless, she packed it with the materials she would need so she could grab it right away when she returned.

"Good morning, Sir Nicholas," smiled Hermione walking to the Great Hall.

"Good morning young lady," replied Nicholas bowing his head. "Always enjoy meeting the new Gryffindors. Your name, my dear?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Very pleased to meet you, Miss Hermione Granger."

Once she had sat down at Gryffindor table she thought about what she should look at first in the library.

"Maybe I should look over some Transfiguration notes," she thought buttering some toast. "McGonagall did hint at an exam next week."

Once she was done with breakfast she walked back up to Gryffindor Tower, grabbed her bag, and walked to the library. The corridors were fairly deserted, and Hermione only ran into four other students. Once in the library she set her bag down and wandered up and down the aisles, still in awe by the number of books.

"Hm, what to look for?" she thought brushing her fingers over the titles. She wanted to read nearly every book she saw, and didn't know where to begin. Her fingers stopped on a book in the middle of the shelf that seemed to be filled with Charm books, _101 Useful Everyday Charms. _She pulled it out and opened it. Flipping through it she could see there was a wide variety of charms in it, ranging from simple ones she knew she could do, to more advanced ones that would require practice even for older students. Her curiosity getting the better of her she brought the book back to her table and started skimming over it.

It seemed like there were charms for everything from health, to food, to beauty, and everything in between. "Honestly," thought Hermione rolling her eyes, as she read about a face charm that, if done properly, made a person's features on their face look 'spectacularly beautiful'. "There is way more to life than looks," she muttered flipping farther in the book. She stopped on a section titled "Light and Fire." Intrigued, she slowly looked over the listed charms. She already knew the basic spell _Lumos_ to light her wand, but she thought it would be very useful to be able to produce stronger light, and even fire, especially if it was something they were going to learn later in their studies.

She read over the description of what looked like one of the more simpler spells:

_**Lacarnum Inflamarae**__ is an extremely useful, simple spell that allows the witch or wizard performing it to produce a durable, good sized flame at the tip of their wand. It can be used to light nearly anything on fire, but can also be done discreetly in case Muggles are around, so not to be detected. The wand movement is simple; simply point your wand and what you wish to light on fire, pronounce 'Lacarnum Inflamare' very clearly, and do a slight jabbing motion with your wand. _

Hermione's hand was itching to grab her wand and try the spell right there, but she figured trying a fire spell in a library full of books was a very bad idea, and not something someone as smart as her would do. Instead she grabbed a quill and parchment from her bag and copied it down, hoping she would be able to find a place to practice it. She turned her attention back to the book and flipped to more of the advanced fire charms.

_**Incendio **__is a more advanced charm that enables a witch or wizard to produce fire that is stronger than fire produced by the spell 'Lacarnum Inflamarae'. It has the same effect, but it cannot be done discreetly, so it is advised to not perform this spell in front of Muggles. The witch or wizard attempting this spell should be more advanced in magical studies since the spell itself needs some concentration and the force of the spell could take some beginners of magic by surprise which could lead to disastrous results. The wand movement for this spell is as follows: Point your wand directly at what you wish to start on fire, concentrate slightly and say 'Incendio'. _

Even though she knew she couldn't practice the charms at that moment she made a mental note to herself to pay extra attention throughout the day in case she found a place to practice. She doubted she would be practicing the charm _Incendio _any time soon, but some of the other more simple ones she could certainly try.

She briefly skimmed over the other charms, waiting for something else to catch her eye. As interesting as the fire charms seemed to be, they all generally did the same thing in the end. She was about to flip to a different section of the book when another fire charm caught her eye.

_**Azuleas Inflamarae**__ is a somewhat simple but very useful charm. If done correctly the incantation 'Azuleas Inflamarae' will produce a blue flame that has nearly all the same characteristics as regular fire, but is portable and can be transported using a small jar, or other non-flammable containers. It produces heat well, but unlike normal fire it does not spread out when cast from one's wand but will burn flammable material if not careful. Because of the shade of blue the flames appears as, it is also referred to as Bluebell Flames. To produce Bluebell Flames one must concentrate slightly, point at a specific area, object, or container, clearly say 'Azuleas Inflamare' and give a slight jab. It may be tricky for the first few tries, but once one has it down, it becomes very simple. _

As Hermione read over the description a few times she knew this was definitely a charm she would have to try. Getting more excited by the minute she debated whether or not to check out the book as she copied down the information she thought would be useful. Not only was she learning more useful magic, she had found something to do in her free time besides re-reading over the notes she already had memorized, and checking, and re-checking her assignments.

Eager to practice and learn more magic she flipped through the book until she found charms related to water. She figured if she would be practicing fire charms, she should probably practice and know a few water charms as well. Just in case.

By the time she was finished in the library she had a nice little list of charms she was dying to practice, she had reviewed her Transfiguration notes and felt prepared if McGonagall did decide to quiz them, although she was still planning on reviewing them tomorrow as well, had finished her History of Magic essay that wasn't due until Thursday, and began on her Astronomy star chart which didn't have to be started until Wednesday. She was still slightly disappointed at the lack of homework she was receiving, and even though she had been reassured the work load would definitely increase she wished it would happen soon.

Walking back to Gryffindor Tower Hermione was deeply concentrating on trying to find a place she could practice without getting caught, causing a mess, or starting anything on fire. "Hm, I suppose I could practice some fire charms near the fire place in the common room," she thought. "Of course, I'll have to find a time when those seats are actually empty, since they always seem to be full. But what about water charms? I could do those outside, I guess, during free time. That shouldn't be too bad." She was so deep in thought she didn't realize she was about to get run into until it was too late.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" said the girl apologetically looking at Hermione. They had bumped into each other right outside the girl's lavatory. The girl had been laughing at something her friend had said, and wasn't paying attention when she walked out. It wasn't anywhere near fatal, just enough to shake Hermione out of her stupor.

"Oh, it's fine," said Hermione composing herself. She looked at the girl, she was fairly pretty. She was wearing Ravenclaw robes, and she looked to be either a second or third year. Hermione knew she wasn't a first year because she didn't recognize her.

"Cho, are you listening?" asked another girl coming out of the bathroom. She had long, dark, curly hair, and seemed surprised at seeing Hermione but smiled at her nonetheless before pulling her friend Cho away down the corridor.

Hermione was about to enter the bathroom and splash some water on her face, but became excited at an idea that had suddenly dawned on her. She didn't know how good of a place a bathroom was for practicing fire charms, but she knew it would be the perfect place to practice water charms. She couldn't believe she hadn't figured it out before. Smiling, she grabbed her bag and entered the bathroom. After checking to make sure she was the only one in there, she grabbed her wand and aimed it at the sink taking a deep breath.

"Just do it like the book explained it. This is a basic charm, you know you can do this," she told herself. _"Aquarius," _she said clearly, hoping it worked. She felt the smile on her face grow as she watched a small stream of water flow out of her wand and into the sink. Even though it was a very easy spell, Hermione couldn't help but feel proud as she repeated the spell a couple times, each time a success.

Needless to say, she was in a very good mood after leaving the bathroom and making her way to the common room. Once arriving back she went and stood next to Neville and watched Dean and Seamus play a game of Exploding Snap for a few minutes. Once she got bored watching them she went up to the girl's dormitory and decided to read a little before going to the Great Hall to eat. So far it was turning out to be a very nice weekend.

The rest of her weekend went just as well, and although she still hadn't found a place or time to practice fire charms she had decided to ask her parents to send a small a jam jar in her next letter. That way, when she mastered the Bluebell flames, she would have something to hold them in.

She had been right about Professor McGonagall giving them an exam, which happened on that following Monday, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she read over the exam questions and knew she knew the answers. The quiz covered all the lessons they had learn, and once you were finished with the writing portion you had to transfigure a stone into a spool of thread. Hermione was first to finish the writing portion and brought it up to the Professor's desk.

"Finished, Ms. Granger?" asked McGonagall.

Hermione nodded. She deeply respected Professor McGonagall, but her sternness did sometimes make her a little nervous.

"Very well," she said with a hint of kindness in her voice, placing a small smooth stone in front of her.

"Relax and focus," whispered Hermione's brain. "You know you can do this." She tried the spell once and became a little discouraged when nothing happened. Re-focusing she tried it again, still nothing happened. Hermione didn't look at the Professor's face, she had a feeling Professor McGonagall was staring at her, expecting her to be able to do it. She did it fine when she was studying.

"Relax, focus, and clear your mind," she told herself. "Third time's a charm."

She tried once more and felt a feeling of relief go through her as she watched the stone magically switch into the desired spool of thread.

She looked up at the Professor almost hesitantly and was pleased to see her giving Hermione a rare smile.

"Very good Miss Granger, you may take your seat."

Hermione turned around and walked back to her desk noticing everyone else was still writing. She pulled out her Transfiguration book and flipped to the next chapter they would be studying. She had already memorized it, but decided it couldn't hurt to look over it. Looking up from her book, she watched Professor McGonagall pick up and examine her spool of thread before changing it back into a stone. Hermione wasn't positive, but she slightly smiled when she saw McGonagall write what looked like an 'A' on a roll of parchment.

The rest of her day went well but she anxiously waited for her parent's reply to her letter. She enjoyed receiving them, and she also wanted to get a hold of a jam jar as soon as possible. By breakfast on Wednesday she was thinking about sending another owl home when she spotted the owl who delivered her letter flying toward her, dropping a letter in front of her. She fed it some bacon from her plate, and watched it ruffle it's wings and take off again. Excitedly she opened the letter.

_ Dear Hermione, _

_Your father and I are glad to hear things are going well, but we were quite nervous after reading your last letter. Please be careful sweetheart. We are very glad you weren't caught outside your dormitory, and that flying lessons went well, and we do hope your friend Neville is okay, but we just want you to be careful overall. I know you did the right thing trying to stop those boys from participating in the Wizard Duel, (I believe that's what it's called) but please don't get yourself hurt, or in too much trouble over someone else's stupidity. We're not too worried, yet, since we know how responsible and mature you are, but we just wanted to give to a small reminder. _

_We miss you terribly, and I am counting down the days until Christmas holiday. Your father and I were so proud when we read how you received 20 points for knowing your lessons, and feel sorry that some of your lessons aren't what you were expecting or hoping for. _

_I wish I could I write a longer letter like yours, but there just isn't much going on around here without you. We love reading your letters so make sure you keep making them long. A few people are still asking about you, including Mrs. Parker. She ran into your father at the store and he told her proudly that you were at a special, selective school for intelligent young adults. Write back soon, darling. We love you and are so proud of you. Keep up those studies. _

_All our love, _

_Mum and Dad. _

_P.S. Also, in your next letter, tell us what you would like for your birthday. I can hardly imagine it without you being here to celebrate it with us. We love you, darling, and please be careful. _

Hermione smiled and read the letter a few times before realizing in shock her birthday was the next day. She had lost track of time, and her birthday had been one of the last things on her mind. Feeling rather silly about nearly forgetting her own birthday, she fought back the feeling of homesickness she felt when she realized that, like her mother said; she would not be home for the first time in her life for her birthday. Pushing these feelings aside, she grabbed her bag and headed for class.

"Listen up first years, quiet down, I'm going to teach you something I think you will find quite interesting today," said Professor Sprout tapping her wand on a potted plant to gain her student's attention. The chatter quieted down, and Hermione turned her whole attention toward the front. "Today we will be learning about Devil's Snare. Now who can tell me a little about Devil's Snare?" asked Sprout looking at the students. Hermione's hand shot in the air. Professor Sprout smiled. "Yes, Ms. Granger."

"Devil's Snare is a dangerous plant that has tree like vines, also known as tentacles, that will ensnare a victim and strangle them. Trying to fight it only makes the vines entangle you faster, or crush you in the ordeal."

"Excellent. Ten points for Gryffindor."

Hermione smiled. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry and Ron whispering to each other. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Professor Sprout. She really hoped they would fail the next quiz; that would show them.

"Now, Devil's Snare, though dangerous, is very versatile plant when it comes to potting," explained Professor Sprout picking up a pot that contained a rather ugly looking plant with swaying tentacles. "Not only can it be potted as a small plant, it can also grow to be many times its size. Now, for Devil's Snare to grow accordingly it needs a very specific environment. Unlike most plants, it grows best in dark, damp, gloomy places. Now, knowing that, can anyone tell me what one should do if ensnared by Devil's Snare?"

Hermione's hand shot up. She remembered reading about Devil's Snare in her Herbology textbook. Professor Sprout smiled and nodded at her.

"If ever ensnared by Devil's Snare, one should stay calm. In doing so the tentacles will most likely release their victim. However, if one cannot stay calm Devil's Snare hates sunlight and will coil and shrink if exposed to it," said Hermione almost breathless with excitement that she knew both answers.

Professor Sprout smiled at her. "Very good Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor."

The class ended with Hermione in a very good mood which only got better when Professor Sinistra handed back one of their Astronomy assignments in which Hermione received a perfect score. In her mind it was a good start to her birthday.

Focusing on her classes, it wasn't until Thursday afternoon she was able to write back to her parents. Setting her books on a table near the fire she pulled out her homework, books, parchment, and a quill. Putting aside her homework for later she dipped her quill and thought about what to write.

_Dear Mum and Dad, _

_I loved getting your last letter. Please don't worry too much, I'm being very careful, and I'm not about to do something stupid that could jeopardize my future here. School is going well, I recently got 15 points for Gryffindor during Herbology for knowing characteristics and facts about a deadly plant called Devil's Snare I read about, and I believe I received a perfect score on my Transfiguration exam. Besides studies, not much is really happening around here either at the moment. Personally I can't wait until the professors start handing out more homework. What we are studying now is absolutely fascinating, but I find myself finishing the assignments early. When I do finish early I usually just go to the library. I'm not sure if I've told you about the library yet, but it is enormous. I love it in there, and I am finding many new spells to practice, which leads to asking you a question. Could you possibly send with your reply a small jar? Nothing big, just something small. I found a charm that can produce a flame that acts almost exactly like a normal flame, but you can contain it and carry it around. That's why I need the jar. I think it would not only be useful, but I'm sure it will help me master some more advanced charms I will be learning. _

_Classes are going fine, besides the lack of work. Defense Against the Dark Arts is still a joke. Yesterday, a couple of First Years from one of the other houses were playing hangman while Professor Quirrell was talking. Even though we didn't really learn anything I still thought it was rather childish. Potions is going as well as could be, Neville hasn't had any more accidents yet, but we'll see what happens this Friday. _

_As for my birthday, don't worry about a present. We can celebrate it when I come home for Holiday. I love and miss you guys terribly, and cannot wait to see you. _

_Love, _

_Your Daughter,_

_Hermione _

Hermione read over it wishing she could write something longer, but she didn't know what else to say. Making a mental note to not forget to mail it, she placed it in her bag and got started on her homework. She didn't have much, and before long she had finished it and was starting to become antsy. It was still a bit to early to go to dinner, but she didn't know what else to do.

Looking around to see if she could get ideas from some of the other students, she realized it common room wasn't very full. She smiled knowing this would be the perfect chance to practice one or two of the fire charms she was itching to try. She of course knew the theory behind them, but she didn't know if that would be enough to perform them without practice. Not really caring where the usual crowd of students were, she sat on one of the chairs in front of the fire place. It had been fairly nice weather the past few days so there wasn't any sort of fire actually in the fire place, but she decided that that was better. That way she would know whether or not it was actually her performing the charm correctly.

Setting a piece of parchment in the fire place, she grabbed her wand and notes and tried to recall exactly what the book had said. Crossing her fingers and taking breath she tried it.

"_Lacarnum Inflamarae." _Her eyes went wide with excitement as she watched the piece of parchment burn in front of her eyes because of her spell. Itching to try it again, she waited until the parchment had completely burned out before placing another piece in the fire place and repeated her previous actions, causing that piece of parchment to burn as well.

Proud of herself that she had mastered a spell on the first try—even if was a simple one—she put away her stuff in her bag, and smiling, walked down to dinner.

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for this chapter. I had horrible writer's block, then my Internet died, blah, blah, blah. I really hope it sounds like I'm sticking to the story fairly well, and making Hermione sound like Hermione. Anyways, hope you like it. **


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The next morning Hermione mailed her letter and went about her day as usual. She sat near the other first year Gryffindors at meal times, but tried to ignore Harry and Ron as much as possible. They just annoyed and frustrated her.

The days went by and Hermione was glad to see a slight increase in their homework load. About a week after she had sent her letter, her parents sent her a reply as well as the jam jar she had requested wrapped in what Hermione figured was a paper bag. Excited, she couldn't wait for classes to be over so she could practice the Bluebell charm she had been itching to try. To keep her mind off of it, she had practiced other simple charms she had found. She could now produce both fire and water, and light that was equivalent to sun rays. She had also mastered a few cleaning spells, and beauty charms that she was wary about trying. Besides basic charms, she was starting to look into a bit more advanced spell work, mainly Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, and Herbology. She knew she wouldn't attempt it until much later, but she didn't see the harm in reading about it.

Even though classes were going well, and she was top of her class in every one, it was getting harder to ignore the feeling she got in her stomach when classes were over, and the students had free time, and she would be in the library instead of hanging out with the other students. It didn't help either that her parents wrote, that even though they are very proud of her grades, and study habits, they wanted to hear more about the people she was meeting.

"Maybe if I spread out my letters a little more, they might think I'm busy with friends," she thought pathetically in the library one day.

She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. She was definitely meeting new people, she just wasn't hanging around them during her free time. Even though the First years still hung around together in a group during classes, and most meal times, they all had their own friends they hung out with now, and Hermione, even though she tried to convince herself otherwise, felt just a little left out. She truly did like her house mates, along with most of the other students from other houses (besides Slytherin) she was meeting, but she just hadn't found a good friend yet. Lavender and Parvati just weren't her type, Seamus and Dean only talked about Quidditch, and Seamus was very good at blowing this up his wand, Harry and Ron just annoyed her to the point of ignoring them, and she was still to shy to really befriend any one from the other houses except for during class times.

"I _suppose_ Neville could be considered a friend," she thought to herself in mid October. "Even if he is a bit forgetful and pitiful, he really is very nice."

Shaking herself of her thoughts she turned back to what she was looking over. Professor Flitwick had hinted that if all worked out well in his lesson plans that they would begin levitating by Halloween. She was practicing trying to levitate her quill and wasn't having much luck.

"_Wigardium Leviosa," _she said practicing the correct wand movement. Nothing happened. The quill lay on the same spot on the table where she had placed it. After a few tries she was starting to become discouraged. She was debating whether or not to quit for the day and start again tomorrow, when she heard a bunch of giggling behind her. She turned around and saw a group of girls giggling and whispering. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she could've sworn she heard love potion. Hermione rolled her eyes, "Honestly, they could be studying something _much _more useful." But nonetheless she was just a teeny bit jealous. Turning back to her quill she scolded herself.

"You have to get rid of all these thoughts," she told herself. "The reason you can't do this is because you're not concentrating hard enough. You know you can do this if you concentrate harder."

Shaking all thoughts from her mind, she focused only on the motionless quill and the spell she was attempting. After a few more tries and still no success she was about to give up if her next attempt didn't work. "Remember swish and flick," she muttered. Concentrating, she tried it again.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!" _Relieved, she watched as her once inert quill began to hover above the table. "Yes!" she said excitedly in a whisper. Apparently she may have been too loud because she quickly turned around and saw Madam Pince giving her a warning glare from a few bookshelves away where she was restacking books. She gave Madam Pince an apologetic look and turned back to her table giddy with happiness. Even though it was only a quill, making anything levitate was a sign of advancing magic. And she figured now that she could do the basic small things like quills, levitating larger, heavier objects would take less practice time.

By the time Halloween rolled around she had advanced from levitating quills and parchment, to hairbrushes, small books, and clothes. She had attempted to levitate her trunk, but it turned out to be to heavy and made it barely of the floor before falling and making a thud loud enough for Parvati to stick her head around her bed curtains where she had been working on homework to make sure everything was alright.

On Halloween morning Hermione walked to the Great Hall for breakfast amidst the smell of baking pumpkin. She had practiced levitating last night, and was extremely confident for today's Charms class, as well as excited to see how the Great Hall would be decorated for tonight's feast.

"Now class," squeaked Professor Flitwick as the beginning of class, "I'm going to break you up into partners, and give each of you one feather which you and your partner will practice levitating."

Hermione smiled. She knew she would definitely be able to levitate a feather. Now she only hoped she wasn't partnered with someone who would ruin class for her.

"Harry Potter and Seamus Finnigan," said Flitwick calling names off a roll of parchment, "Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley…,"

Hermione felt numb. Professor Flitwick couldn't be serious! Out of all the students in Charms class he partnered her with _him. _All he was, was an infuriating, inconsiderate prat who barely did his homework, paid little attention in class, and never once looked ahead in their studies. Angrily she glared at him like this was his fault. "Oh well," she decided. "I'm not going to let him ruin this for me."

The students shuffled around moving to sit next to their partner. Ron slammed his book down next to her with a very sour, annoyed look on his face. After all the feathers had been passed out Professor Flitwick stood on his stack of books to oversee his students.

"Does everyone have their feathers?" he asked craning his neck to check. Hermione raised her and Ron's. "Ah excellent. Now don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing; _swish and flick._"

"Swish and flick," the class repeated practicing with their wands.  
"And saying the magic words properly is very important too—never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest. Well, off you go."

Hermione knew if she went first she would get it on the first try so she didn't say anything when Ron grabbed his wand and attempted the spell. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She became distracted momentarily when Seamus's and Harry's feather caught fire due to Seamus poking it with his wand.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!" _said Ron flailing his arms. She couldn't resist any longer.

"Stop, stop," she said holding up her hand to make him stop flinging his arms. "You're saying it wrong, it's Wing—_gar_—dium Levi—_o_—sa, make the _gar _nice and long."

"You do it then if you're so clever, go on, go on," snapped Ron.

"Fine, he asked for it," she thought grabbing her wand and pushing up her sleeves. Flicking her wand she said, "_Wingardium Leviosa!" _

She smiled and gave Ron an 'I told you so' look while keeping the feather high above their heads. Professor Flitwick squeaked with excitement.

"Look here everyone, Miss Granger's done it," he said clapping. "Excellent work dear."

They were all brought back to reality by a small explosion and the smell of singed, burnt hair. Hermione looked around. Apparently Seamus had blown up his and Harry's feather.

Hermione was in a very good mood for the rest of the class, and noted somewhat happily that Ron wasn't. When class was over Ron quickly left with Harry, Seamus, and Dean. Hermione had picked up the feathers for Professor Flitwick, and hurried to catch up with them. She wanted to tell Ron to practice so he would be able to do it next class period. She was just behind him when she heard them talking about her.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," she heard Ron telling them. "She's a nightmare, honestly. It's no wonder she hasn't any friends."

Hermione felt numb when she heard that. She could feel the tears starting to sting in her eyes and run down her face. No. She wouldn't let them see her cry. She quickly walked past them, making sure to elbow them as she did.

"I think you hurt her feelings," said Harry.

She walked away to quickly to hear if Ron replied or not. She wasn't sure where to go. She could go to back to Gryffindor Tower, but that was so far away and she knew she would be stopped, especially with how she looked now. She sniffled and nearly ran to the first place her feet led her—the girl's lavatory. She quickly checked to make sure no one was in there, and then she let the tears come freely. She cried because she missed her parents, and her home, and her everyday normal routine. She cried because she was scared, and although she desperately wanted to learn magic, it was so intimidating, especially when you wanted to be perfect for the teachers. She cried because she knew Ron was right and that she didn't have any friends, not true friends at least. This was just as bad, if not worse, as primary school. Hermione just let it all out. She decided not to go to the rest of her classes that day, and she would probably skip the Halloween feast too. After a while of crying Hermione had made up her mind. The next day she would go talk to Professor McGonagall about quitting Hogwarts, and going home. She could still learn magic from books, and even though she couldn't practice in the Muggle world, she knew how to get to Diagon Alley where she could probably find a place to practice. She just couldn't believe it. Hogwarts was supposed to be a fresh, new beginning. She was supposed to love it here, it was pretty much her whole dream. But now she hated it, and just wanted to go home, back to what she knew and was use to, back to her parents. Back to everyday normal life.

She wasn't quite sure how long she had been in there crying, but she figured it had been quite a while. She heard the door open, and sniffled softly.

"Hermione_? Is that you?" She recognized Parvati's voice. "Are you alright?" _

_She sniffed again. "Yeah, I just want to be left alone for a while." _

"_Okay, well, just letting you know the feast's about to start." _

"_Okay, thanks," she said quietly. She heard the door shut and Parvati walk away. Hermione didn't know if she had any tears left, but she still felt like crying so she waited to see if she did. _

_A little while after Parvati left, Hermione began to feel a bit disappointed in herself. She had just missed half her classes and was now missing a perfectly good feast all because of one stupid boy. She wiped her eyes, and shook her head trying to relax herself. "He's just a stupid boy. What does he know. Go to the feast, and if you still feel like going home, go and talk to Professor McGonagall tomorrow," she told herself. Wiping her eyes she left the bathroom stall. She knew they must be red and puffy and wanted to splash cold water on them before heading down to the Great Hall. She froze when she saw hideously ugly, huge feet, and almost gagged when a retched smell hit her nostrils. She slowly looked up and saw she was staring at the most ugly, horrific, revolting thing she had ever seen dragging a very large, wooden club. She did the first thing that came to her mind. She screamed. It looked at her stupidly, then lifted it's club and knocked a bathroom sink off the walls. Very slowly she backed away until her back was against the wall, she was going to faint! She was going to die! She had read all about trolls, but her mind froze, she didn't know what to do. She was too terrified to even move. _

"_Hermione move!" _

_She heard the command but it didn't register in her mind. _

"_Confuse it!" _

_The troll lifted it's club again. This time, something her brain clicked and she ran underneath one of the sinks. She was just barely registering Harry and Ron were in there with her and Harry was trying to make her move. She wanted to, but she was just too scared! _

"_Oy, pea-brain," yelled Ron throwing a piece of metal pipe at it. Hermione wanted to scream, but no sound came out as she watched it go after Ron. She didn't realize Harry had left her side until she saw him hanging on the troll's neck. She heard the troll yell in a berserk manner and then she saw it grab Harry by the ankle and hold him upside down, ready to club him, with what looked like Harry's wand jammed in it's nose. _

"_Do something!" yelled Harry. _

"_What?!" asked Ron in a panicked voice. _

"_Anything! Hurry up!" _

_Hermione saw Ron grab his wand. She knew what spell he was going to do, she didn't know how, but she knew. _

"_Swish and flick!" she yelled over to him. _

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

_Hermione saw the club lift out of the troll's hand, and watched it fall back down and hit him on the head, causing him to drop Harry. She wanted to scream when she realized the club had made the troll dizzy, it was about to pass out. She watched wide eyed, and scared as Harry just made it before the troll hit the floor with a thud that made the room tremble. Something in Hermione clicked and although she was extremely shaken up, she was a bit calmer and walked forward. _

"_Is it—dead?" she asked hesitantly. _

"_No, I don't think so," said Harry. "Just knocked out." _

_Hermione watched him pull his wand out of the troll's nose, and made a face as lumpy, gray troll bogies came out too. She wanted to say something, thank them for saving her, but she didn't know how. _

_A loud slamming and footsteps made all three of them look at the door as Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Professor Quirrell ran in. Hermione watched as Professor Quirrell took one look at the troll and had to sit on a toilet seat clutching his chest. She looked over at Professor McGonagall. Hermione had never seen her so pale, or so angry. She was holding her chest too, gasping for air. "What on earth were you thinking of?" she asked angrily at Harry and Ron. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory? Explain yourselves, both of you." _

_Hermione couldn't watch them get in trouble after saving her life. She had to do something. _

"_It's my fault Professor McGonagall." She watched as the astonished faces looked at her. McGonagall looked flabbergasted and Snape looked like he couldn't believe his ears. _

"_I went looking for the troll. I thought I could handle it, I've read all about them. If they hadn't found me, I'd—I'd probably be dead." She saw Harry and Ron look at each other in shock, then heard Ron drop his wand. She then went on to explain how Harry had stuck his wand up it's nose, and how Ron had knocked it out with it's own club. _

_She watched as Professor McGonagall tried to compose herself. "Be that as it may. Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?" Hermione hung her head in shame. "I am very disappointed in you. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor, for your serious lack of judgment. If you're not hurt at all you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."_

_Hermione quickly walked out the door and to Gryffindor tower. She was hoping they would be rewarded. The Fat Lady gave her look when she gave the password, but didn't ask any questions. Once inside Hermione waited for Harry and Ron so she could properly thank them. They saw her when they entered, and after a few seconds of awkward silence they all said "Thanks," and quickly went to get plates. After they had gotten their food they went to a corner with little commotion, and ate while Harry and Ron talked excitedly about the troll. Now that they knew there was going to be no punishment, they thought it was quite the experience. Hermione listened and felt herself smiling. She was honestly enjoying herself. She never would have thought that an ugly, horrid mountain troll would somehow, someway, form a friendship between her, Harry and Ron, but she was glad it did. _

_**Author's Note: Yay! Hermione has friends now. I figured it was time she befriended them. Hope you liked it! :) Once again I used lines from the book and movie, and I based the troll incident more off the book just because it's the original.**_


	13. Chapter 12

_**A/N: I **__**do not **__**own Harry Potter or anything Harry Potter related. It all belongs to the amazing J.K. Rowling and the publishers. Hope you like it! **_

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_Chapter 12_

_The next morning Hermione woke up__ and rubbed her eyes after having a very peculiar dream. Even though it was only a dream it had felt so real. Within seconds everything that had happened the previous day came rushing back to her and she laid in bed hardly believing it. "Well that would explain the dream," she thought recalling her dream. _

_She had dreamt she was in Charms class when a troll attacked the school and for some reason it was only her, Harry and Ron and__ for some reason__ Harry and Ron saved her. It had seemed so real Hermione could've sworn it __was really happening__._

"_Maybe they aren't so bad after all," she said quietly. __Still a bit dizzy from the previous night she shook herself out of her stupor, __got dressed and headed down to the common room. "All you need is a little breakfast to clear your head," she told herself. _

_Entering the common room she was surprised to see Harry and Ron. Why weren't they down at the Great Hall already? They weren't waiting for her—were they?_

"_There you are, finally. I'm starving. I thought you'd never get up," said Ron getting up from one of the couches. _

_Hermione was too surprised to get mad at him for being rude. _

"_You were waiting for me?" she asked. Was this a joke?_

"_Well, yeah," said Ron looking at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, come on then. I want to eat something before I have to spend half my day with slimy git and the stupid Slytherins." _

_Hermione could feel a happy feeling__ growing__ in her stomach. She didn't even care that Ron had just insulted Professor Snape. _

"_Coming?" asked Ron turning to Harry who was still sitting on one of the couches. It looked like he was writing something. _

"_You go ahead," he said. "I have to finish this before class. How many rat tails do you add to a hair thickening potion? I can't find it anywhere in the book." _

"_Do what I did and just make it up," said Ron. _

_Hermione looked at him questionably. She knew Professor Snape would not like that. _

"_Yeah, and give Snape another reason to fail me? No thanks," said Harry flipping through his book again. _

_She knew she shouldn't, but honestly, what was the harm in one little answer? After all he did help save her life. _

"_It's three," she said walking over to him. "Three rat tails." _

_He smiled looking relieved. "Thanks," he said writing it down. _

"_Really? It's three?" questioned Ron. _

_Hermione nodded. "Professor Snape mentioned it in class. It's not in our books." _

"_I should probably change my answer then," said Ron. "I said six." _

_After Harry had finished his assignment they walked down to the Great Hall. Hermione was debating whether or not to bring up the troll incident. She wanted to thank them again for saving her life, but she didn't want to ruin the moment and she didn't know if it would. _

_At breakfast she sat next to them and listened to Harry tell Ron about Quidditch practices. Apparently the Gryffindor team captain, Oliver Wood, was going to start making practice longer on top of having it three times a week. Even though she was only listening to their conversation, she somehow felt included. She paid more attention to this conversation than to any other one she had heard that involved Quidditch. _

_Harry was just about to explain the new techniques Wood wanted to show him when the two red haired twins sat down next to them. _

_Hermione smiled a little nervously. She of course recognized them, but she had never talked to them. _

"_Can you believe__ it__ Fred?" asked one of the twins grabbing a piece of toast. "Our ickle Ronnikins actually fought a troll. _

"_Shut up," muttered Ron turning a slight shade of red. _

"_Alas," said the other twin pretending to wipe his eye in a sad voice, "It seems like just yesterday he was running around the yard starkers." _

_Hermione and Harry let out a small laugh. Poor Ron was glaring at his brothers, his ear tips starting to turn red. The twins spotted this and grinned identical grins. _

"_Don't take it as an insult, Ron," said one of the twins grabbing sausages. _

"_Yeah, take it as a compliment. We were scared you'd turn out to be like our dear Prefect brother." _

"_They must be talking about Percy," thought Hermione. She could definitely see the resemblance in the hair. _

"_Anyways, come on George. I think we still have time to set off some dungbombs before Charms," said Fred grabbing a piece of toast as well and leaving Gryffindor table followed by his twin. _

_Hermione was somewhat shocked. _

"_Are they really going to set off dungbombs in the corridor?" she asked turning to Ron. _

_Ron shrugged. "Probably. They love that stuff, you know jokes and pranks." _

_She had heard rumors that they were pranksters and __supposedly__very __funny, but she never thought they would be so open about causing trouble. _

_Ron and Harry went back to their Quidditch conversation and they soon headed toward the dungeons__— __Harry and Ron rather gloomily. Professor Snape was in his usual mood and it didn't take long before points had been taken away from Gryffindor for Neville's clumsiness, and Ron's potion's color being more light blue than blue. Hermione could see and hear the insults and looks the Gryffindors were making behind his back. _

_Once class was over and they were out of earshot Ron let out all of his pent in anger. _

"_Why, do we even have to take potions?" asked Ron rolling his eyes. "And with him." _

_Hermione became a bit annoyed. Potions was one of the most important areas in the lives of witches and wizards. It was essential to learn them to simply survive in the wizarding world. _

"_Potions are extremely important Ron," said Hermione as they walked toward Gryffindor tower. _

"_I suppose," muttered Ron darkly. _

_Harry suggested a game of Exploding Snap and by Ron's third win in a row he was feeling much better. They didn't do much the rest of the day. Hermione kept hinting they should start on their __homework;__ otherwise they'd have to rush to get it done. _

"_We have the whole weekend to do it," said Ron wide eyed as Hermione pulled out her books and started working. _

_Hermione rolled her eyes as and started her Potions assignment while Harry and Ron went back to their game. _

_Later that night after Hermione bid Harry and Ron goodnight__,__ she laid in thinking about how much she had enjoyed the__ day,__and found herself__ hoping this was something that was going to last. Getting sleepier she__ wondered what they would do tomorrow and got excited just thinking about it. __ Even if it was just sitting in the common room doing nothing but talking, Hermione had a feeling it was going to be one of the best weekends she's had yet. _

_The next morning after Hermione had woken up she waited down in the common room for Harry and Ron. To pass time __she __practiced a tricky little color changing charm on a piece of discarded parchment__. It was one the charms she had read about in __the Charms book from the __library. __Her goal was to successfully master it__,__ so that whatever object she placed the charm on would turn a multitude of different colors. So far she had only gotten good enough to change color__s__ once. She tried to focus on the spell but kept getting distracted __by constantly __looking at the steps that led to the boy's dormitories. _

"_I hope they aren't tired of me," thought Hermione anxiously. She wondered if she had annoyed them and was nervous they would regret befriending her. "Don't be ridiculous," she told herself. "They're just sleeping." _

_Just as her nerves hit breaking point and she was considering about __maybe sneaking up to the boy's dormitories just to make__ sure they__ were__ actually still __sleeping__ she heard movement coming down the stairs. She smiled as Harry and Ron came walking down looking tired but awake. _

"_I'm glad we don't have class today," said Ron sitting in a nearby chair. _

_Harry nodded in an agreement. "Hermione, what's that?" asked Harry nodding to the parchment she had been charming. _

"_I've been practicing a color changing charm." _

"_I don't remember learning about color changing charms in class?" said Ron picking up the parchment. "Do you, Harry?" _

_Harry shook his head, clearly agreeing with Ron. _

"_You wouldn't," began Hermione. "I read about it in a book I found in the library. It has a bunch of charms for everyday use that we haven't learned in class yet."_

_Ron and Harry looked at each with looks of shocked amazement on their faces. "You actually did more work outside of class?" asked Ron. _

"_Mmhm," said Hermione walking out of the portrait hole followed by Harry and Ron. _

_On the way to breakfast their conversation turned to Ron's rat Scabbers, who had apparently destroyed a pair of bed sheets. __Judging by the way he was talking about him__ Hermione wondered how much Ron actually liked Scabbers. _

"_He really is a pathetic rat," said Ron looking sideways at Hermione. _

"_Just a little bit," said Harry trying to make him feel better. _

"_Hey Harry," a voice said __just __as Hermione, Harry and Ron sat down at the table. Hermione saw a burly Fifth Year boy jogging over to them and sitting down next to Harry. Hermione recognized him as Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch team Captain. She had never spoken to hi__m, but she had heard about him. _

"_Just wanted to make sure you remember those techniques I talked about for the first game. I think I have a new defense strategy I'm gonna talk to the team about, and maybe try it out at practice. I don't think you have to worry about it though, just make sure you're ready for the game next Saturday. We__ have to win this Harry," said Wood with a look of determined hope on his face. "We have a good team this season. We're gonna win." _

_Harry nodded, looking very nervous. Wood didn't seem to notice though. _

"_Good," he said smiling and clapping Harry on the shoulder, "I'm going to go find the girls I want to walk them through the new strategy I came up with…" He walked off muttering his new strategy under his breath. _

_Hermione watched him walk away, and was starting to see just how competitive Quidditch could be. She looked back at Harry who had __miserable__ look on his face and was picking at his food. Ron noticed too. _

"_Cheer up, mate. You'll do fine. I've heard about him__ from Fred and George__. He gets absolutely mental __about__ Quidditch right before the game__." _

_Harry looked at him and nodded __but didn't look any better__. Ron glanced at Hermione. She felt bad, but she didn't know what to say to make him feel better. _

"_I know," said Ron. "Let's go visit Hagrid, that'll cheer you up, and Hermione hasn't met him yet." _

_Hermione noticed Harry smile at this. "Yeah, let's do that," he agreed._

_Even though she was glad Harry was feeling better she felt a little uneasy__ about this plan__ but decided__ it was best__ not to say anything. _

"_Isn't Hagrid the man who first brought us up to the castle?" asked Hermione to Harry while they were waiting in the common room for Ron. They had gone back to get their cloaks, and Ron was having trouble finding his._

"_Yeah. He was also the one who first told me I was a wizard."_

_Harry must have heard the tenseness in her voice because he smiled reassuringly. _

"_Don't worry. I know he can seem intimidating, but he really isn't scary at all once you get to know him." _

_Hermione gave him a small smile taking his word for it, but the she didn't feel any better as they walked toward his house and Harry knocked on the door. _

_Hermione heard barking from inside the house and glanced at Harry and Ron who didn't seem to notice. She tried not to stare or look scared when the door opened. Up close he looked even bigger than she remembered. He had a messy mane of tangled black hair, and his eyes looked like beetles but he smiled when he saw them and ushered them inside. _

"_Come in, make yerselves at home," he said__as a huge black boarhound bounded at them. Hermione took a small hesitant step back as it ran right up to her. _

"_Oh, Hagrid, this is Hermione," said Harry suddenly looking at her. _

_She smiled nervously. _

"_Pleasure to meet yeh, Hermione. I've heard about you, the teachers talk about yeh all the time," he said smiling kindly at her. "Good things, o'course."_

_Hermione felt herself smile and sat next to Harry__ as Hagrid set three cups of tea in front of them, and a plate full of cookies__. He seemed nice, even if he did look a scary. Hermione and the boys spent nearly all morning in there, and when it was time to leave Hermione was shocked to see how long they had been visiting. It seemed liked they had talked about everything and nothing, just light chatter about Quidditch, classes, homework,__ and __Harry's Muggle family. From what she had heard Hermione thought his cousin, uncle, and aunt seemed like horrible people. She didn't talk much__ since she was__ still a bit nervous, but it didn't matter. She __had had a wonderful time __listening and laughing__ with them__. _

_It didn't take long for Hermione to like Hagrid either. She soon found out what Harry had __meant earlier.__He just had a rough exterior with a very__ kind heart. A bit disappointed they had to leave, they promised they would visit again soon, and left carrying__ some of the__ cookies Hagrid had made in their pockets. __Hermione had sneaking suspicion a bit of magic may have been used to make them since Ron and Harry both had warned her about the rock cakes they had received last time they visited. _

"_I wish I could get him to tell us more about th__e__ break- in," said Harry as they walked back. _

"_Break-in?" asked Hermione looking curiously at him. _

"_The Gringotts break-in, remember?" _

_Hermione nodded. Of course she remembered that__.__ Gringotts Wizarding Bank was extremely powerful__,__ and guarded exceedingly well. Only a very powerful or very dark wizard could break into it and survive__, much less not get caught__. _

"_I was there earlier that day," he explained. "After Hagrid and I had gone to my vault, we went to another__ one __and Hagrid picked up this grubby little package. I think that was what the thieves were after." _

_He looked at them. _

"_Well what could it be?" asked Hermione. _

"_Who knows?" said Ron. "But it'd have to be pretty valuable for it to be kept guarded at Gringrotts," said Ron as they reached the castle. _

_Even though Hermione wasn't as intrigued as the boys, she was interested in what they told her nonetheless. _

_When they reached the common room Hermione left them at the portrait hole telling them she had to run to the library to grab a book that went more in depth into the Transfiguration theory they had learned on Thursday. Harry and Ron just looked at each other and shrugged. _

_Walking to the library Hermione felt a little bad about lying to them, seeing that they were her new friends. But she knew Ron would probably laugh at her if she told them the real reason. She wasn't going to find a book on the theory they learned Thursday, she had already researched it and knew all the key points by heart. No, she was going to find a book on Quidditch. She was hoping to find the same book she found last time. __It__ seemed to be a popular topic with both Harry and Ron and maybe now that she was friends with them, it wouldn't seem as boring__ to her__ as it did before. Especially with the first Gryffindor game right around the corner. _

_Finding the book quickly she checked it out and ignored Madam's Pince piercing glare as it was handed back to her. Back in the common room she found Ron playing with a stack of chocolate frog cards, his school books lay unopened in front of him. She looked at Harry; he at least had one of his books open. Not wanting to be questioned about the book she hid it behind her back. _

"_Where's the book you went for?" asked Ron looking up from a witch scratching her nose. _

"_Oh, it was checked out," she said quickly hoping __Ron wouldn't ask any more questions._

_He shrugged and went back to his cards while she ran up to her dorm and grabbed her textbooks. Even though she was finished with her homework she could still read ahead for next week's lesson. She also grabbed the jam jar from her bedside table. She wanted to practice her blue-bell charm if she got a chance. She almost had it, and__ she__ really wanted to master it before next week. _

_Setting her __bag__ down__ on the table,__ she sat down__ next to Ron and pulled out one of her books. _

"_Um, Hermione, why do you have a jam jar?" asked Harry eyeing the jar she had set on the table. _

"_I'm trying to master a blue-bell charm." _

_She looked at their faces and saw the__ir__ confused __expressions__. "It produces a flame that has almost all the same properties of a regular flame__,__ except you can carry it around with you__,__w__hich is why I have the jam jar__. I've almost mastered it too," she said examining the jar. _

_She saw the look of shock and awe on their faces and couldn't help but smile at their expressions. _

_After Ron had finished playing with his cards he looked around for something else to do. Not finding anything he reluctantly started on his homework. Hermione bit back a giggle as she watched him peek over at Harry's homework only to find Harry had given up and had spent the last 15 minutes doodling all over his parchment. _

"_Hermione, did you already do your homework for McGonagall?" asked Ron opening his book and a pulling out piece of parchment. _

"_Of course," she said going back to reading __One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_.

"What were we suppose to do again?"

She looked at him with a disapproving look.

"We were suppose to write an essay on the key points of animate to inanimate Transfiguration," she said going back to her book. "Professor McGonagall talked about it all on Thursday. It really is a fairly simple essay."

She caught the look passed between Harry and Ron and had a feeling of what was coming next.

"Hermione," they began, "Do you think maybe we could just look at yours?"

"You mean copy?"

They looked at her with a look of guilty hopefulness on their faces.

Hermione was scandalized. "How will you learn?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Ron muttered looking sulkily at Harry who had a similar expression.

"Will you at least read over it and check it for us then?" asked Harry.

Hermione considered this for a moment. For a slimmer of a second her mind went back to primary school when some of the girls only befriended her so she would give them answers, then go back to ignoring her afterwards. She quickly brushed that thought from her mind. Something told her Harry and Ron weren't like that at all.

"Okay," she said giving in. They would still be doing the homework, so they would still be learning the lesson, so it wasn't necessarily cheating. At least, not in any way Hermione could think off. "And after all," a voice said in her head, "they did save your life."

She went back to her book and allowed herself a small smile as she watched Harry and Ron actually attempt to do their homework this time.

The rest of the weekend passed quickly and it wasn't until she was in bed Sunday night that she realized that she had definitely had one of the best weekends she's had since school had started. Feeling a smile spread across her face she fell asleep thinking about how enjoyable the weekend had been and how much she would have to tell her parents in her next letter.

**Author's Note: Once again sorry it took so long for me to upload this chapter. It was difficult to write and I didn't want to upload crap. A HUGE thank you to everyone who has left amazing comments, favorited, and just has been patient with me in general. It means a ton to me! Once again, I tried to base it off the book as best as I could and I really hope I'm doing it justice, since HP is such an amazing story with amazing characters. Hope you liked it. Chapter 13 on the way. :)**

**P.S. Also a big thank you to Harry Potter wiki for all information I find on there. **


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. Hope you like it! **

Chapter 13

The next morning she woke up and smiled, remembering the past weekend. She couldn't wait to tell her parents about Harry and Ron in her next letter. Anxiously she paced around the common room waiting for the boys to get up. "How can they sleep in today?" she thought. Personally, she loved Mondays, it was the start of the school week and she couldn't wait to learn the new material the professors were planning.

Moments later, both Ron and Harry greeted her both looking very tired and bewildered by Hermione's high-spirited excitement which was not shared by either of them.

The day was going fine until they were walking back from Herbology and Wood caught up with them to tell Harry about the last minute practice he had just set up for that night. Apparently, he wanted to re-run over an offensive strategy with the chasers he had shown them earlier and wanted the whole team to be at practice.

Hermione looked over at Harry and felt bad when she saw a nervous look pass over his face after Wood left.

"You'll do fine, mate," said Ron obviously seeing Harry's face as well.

The three walked in silence back up to the castle and Harry said little for the rest of the day until he left for the Quidditch pitch after dinner.

"He'll be fine, won't he?" asked Hermione as she and Ron headed back to the common room.

"Yeah, he should be," said Ron although something in his voice sounded kind of doubtful.

"You don't think he'll get hurt very badly, do you?" She knew Harry was more worried about losing than getting hurt, but she knew most Muggle sports could become very brutal and bloody very quickly, and she doubted Quidditch was any different.

"No, he won't. The worst that could happen is a broken nose, or arm, or something. Professional Quidditch can get mean, but I don't think the teachers will let it get too out of hand," reassured Ron. "Although, a Chaser did get a concussion after getting hit in the head with a bludger when my brother Charlie was seeker. He was out for a month," said Ron almost as an afterthought.

"A month?"

Hermione was becoming more and more anxious. Harry couldn't be out for a month. He would fall so far behind in his lessons!

"Well, maybe it was less. Fred and George never seem to get hurt."

"Does your whole family play Quidditch?" asked Hermione intrigued.

"All of us but Percy."

"Is Charlie the oldest?"

"No, Bill is. He's in Egypt right now working as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts."

"What does Charlie do then?" She knew he had to be done with school; otherwise she was sure she would've met him already.

"He's working with dragons in Romania," said Ron. "He was brilliant at Quidditch. He was Quidditch Captain while he was here, and could've gone on and played for England, but chose dragons instead."

Hermione was fascinated; a Curse Breaker and someone who studies dragons. She could just imagine some of the curses the ancient Egyptians placed on the tombs, and although she knew very little about dragons, she knew enough to know they were extremely dangerous and one had to not only be brave and tough, but also very smart to work with them. She was interested in what wizards and witches did after they graduated besides the obvious jobs such as working in the Ministry.

"So, there are six of you all together?" asked Hermione quickly doing the math in her head listening to Ron talk about his brothers. She had always had trouble imagining just one sibling, and couldn't begin to even imagine what it would be like to have a multiple of them.

"Seven, actually," answered Ron though his voice sounded slightly bitter when he said this.

Hermione detected the change in his voice for only a fraction of a second before the number he told her registered in her brain.

"Seven?" repeated Hermione surprised. She couldn't even begin to fathom having more than two siblings, much less six.

"Yeah, there's me and my five brothers, then there's my sister, Ginny. She'll be coming here next year."

"Wow," thought Hermione, "seven children."

"Do all of you have red hair?" she asked.

Ron, Fred, George, and Percy all did, and she wondered if it was every Weasley sibling, or just those four.

"Yeah, so do mum and dad," he said off hand.

Hermione was fascinated. She was finding Ron's family to be even more interesting than some of the lessons Professor Quirrell had taught them.

"Wow," said Hermione. "I bet it can get a little wild when you're at home."

Hermione thought back to how quiet and calm her life was when she was at home. Since it was only she and her parents, it could hardly be called chaotic, or even anything similar to that. And although she loved the peacefulness of it all, as well as the organization her family seemed to have fallen into over the years, she sometimes found herself wondering what it would be like to live in a more rambunctious home.

"Yeah, it can," agreed Ron. "Most of the time it's nice, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be an only child. Or at least, have a few less siblings."

Hermione smiled. "I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have siblings. Although, I have trouble only imagining one, much less six."

Ron shrugged his shoulders lightly and smiled at her, "I can hardly imagine being an only child."

Their conversation on siblings stopped as they reached the common room entrance and gave the password. After grabbing an open table, Hermione grabbed some parchment and began to write to her parents while Ron attempted to begin his homework. Hermione glanced over at him doubting the fact he would actually start it. Thinking back to the conversation they had moments before, Hermione smiled slightly and decided that maybe Ron wasn't as big as an annoyance as she had previously written him out to be.

_Dear Mum and Dad, _

_ I'm sorry if you think this letter is a little overdue. I've been so busy with school and everything that I've only now found time to write a letter longer than a few sentences. _

_ School, as usual, is still wonderful as are two of the new friends I made. I told you about them earlier, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. However, last time I wrote to you about them was in a different context. I'm sure you remember them though, Harry defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and Ron is his friend. They were the two who snuck out of Gryffindor Tower that one night when I followed them. _

_Although they were two of the most frustrating boys I've ever met, I've recently gotten to know them better, and so far I really like them. _

Hermione stopped writing for a moment and debated on whether or not to tell her parents how she befriended them. She knew they would be terribly worried about her, and may even re-think letting her return if they knew she was almost killed by a mountain troll. But on the other hand, she didn't want to lie to them and she knew if she didn't at least skim over how she befriended them, her parents would become curious and want to know details.

_You will never believe what happened on Halloween. An actual mountain troll got into the school. Of course, none of students were anywhere near danger. One of the professors was able to retain it in the farthest dungeon which is nowhere near anywhere a student would be, and after the Prefects made sure all the younger students were safely back in the dormitories, the professors were able to knock it out. It was all rather exciting, even though it was quite frightening. _

Hermione wondered if she should cross that line out. For her, nothing about the troll experience was exciting – nothing! On the contrary it was the absolute most terrifying thing Hermione had ever faced in her life, but she was sure from a different bystander's point of view it probably was exciting. Deciding to leave it in there she began to write more, firmly deciding to sugar coat how she befriended the boys.

_That's actually how I befriended Harry and Ron. Because it was safer for the students in their houses, the feast was actually magically transported to each of the different house's common rooms. Through all the confusion and shifting around, I found myself sitting next to Harry and Ron. Our main conversation was about the troll break in, but at the end of the conversation I found myself actually starting to like them. I also recently met Hagrid. Harry introduced me. I don't know if I've mentioned him in my previous letters, but he was the man who first led us to Hogwarts. He was also the person who introduced Harry to the Wizarding world. I'm sure I mentioned Harry grew up with Muggles, so he had no idea about the magical world at all. He (Hagrid) is very, very nice, but he can seem sort of intimidating when you first meet him. He's at least twice the size of a normal person, so I'm sure he has some Giant blood in him, or a growth charm backfired on him and couldn't be reversed. Overall, once you get past the rough exterior, he is very pleasant._

_The other boy I met, Ron, who I told you about earlier, is actually very interesting. He can also be very annoying, but interesting as well. I could hardly believe it when he told me he had six siblings! Can you imagine having seven children? Also, his entire family has bright red hair, including their mum and dad, and they all went to school at Hogwarts! His two eldest brothers have already graduated and one works with dragons, and the other works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts. I'm sure you remember Gringotts, it's that large wizard bank run by goblins. His other brother Percy, just happens to be a Prefect. I first met him at the start of term feast, and so far I find him very smart and enjoyable. I hope I become Prefect someday. Oddly enough, neither Ron nor his two twin brothers seem to be very much like Percy. In fact, his twin brothers are more pranksters than anything else. So far I've found some of their jokes and pranks to be funny, but others I believe are somewhat too childish and most of them are almost guaranteed to lose points for Gryffindor, but they seem nice overall. They also happen to be beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. _

_Speaking of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, our first game is this Saturday and poor Harry I think is near terrified. The Quidditch Captain, Oliver Wood, has been having these long and often practices which even though there suppose to strengthen the team, I think are just adding to Harry's nerves. I'm sure Harry will do well though, I hope so at least. _

_Lesson wise, school, as usual, is fascinating. Now that the professor's believe we're ready, the lessons are getting more advanced and much more interesting, and I'm sure it will only get better. I am of course keeping up with my studies and so far have received top marks on all my assignments. _

Hermione was nearly finished with her letter when Ron, who's eyes had been skimming over the chapter they were suppose to read instead of actually reading it, interrupted her.

"You know, what if we did something to make him feel better. You know, like show our support."

"As in the whole house?" she asked. She knew Harry knew he had their support, but Ron may be up to something if they could get the whole house to support Harry, or well at least the first years.

"Yeah, I don't know. Something to boost his spirits during the game."

Hermione thought about it for a minute. "That's actually a very good idea, Ron. How do you think we should do it though?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, I was thinking something like a poster or something along those lines…" he trailed off.

"What about a banner?" asked Hermione excitedly.

Ron smiled, "Yeah, a banner."

"Now how do you suppose we go around to getting and making one," muttered Hermione starting to think. "We should also ask the other first years. I'm sure they would like to help," she added.

"Well, what about those sheets Scabbers destroyed?" asked Ron, glad Hermione liked his idea.

"I think that just might work," she said excitedly. "Let me go ask the others if they want to be part of it," she said tucking her letter safely away and quickly walking over to where Dean and Seamus were playing a game and to Neville who looked like he was attempting to do homework that was above his intelligence level.

After explaining it to them and once again to Lavender and Parvati who had just come back from dinner it was apparent the first years where very approving of the idea.

"What should it say though?" asked Lavender looking around at the group.

"Go Harry?" suggested Seamus shrugging. It seemed like the obvious choice.

"We could do that," said Hermione grabbing a piece of parchment in case she had to write down different idea, "but what about something more exciting."

To her, "Go Harry," would work, but it was so commonly used.

"What about 'Potter for President?" mumbled Neville who was sitting farthest away from the group.

Hermione thought it over and began to really like the sound of it. Looking around, she saw the group thinking it over and repeating it in their head.

"I like it," said Parvati. "I think it would work well."

Dean and Seamus nodded in agreement. Looking at everyone in the group it seemed to be the general consensus.

"Potter for President it is then," said Hermione.

"Just so he doesn't find out, I think we should wait until a little closer to Saturday," stated Hermione authoritatively. "I think Thursday or Friday would be best."

Hermione noticed Dean and Seamus catch each other's eyes with slightly startled looks on their faces. She assumed it was because of how she took charge of the situation, but she wanted it to be perfect and she wasn't assured the other Gryffindor first years could do it properly.

After making sure everyone understood what was going on, she, Ron, and the other first years went back to their previous activities to not allow Harry any suspicions. Getting her letter back out she quickly finished it so she could send tomorrow.

_Anyways, I wish I could write more, but the first years have decided to make a banner for Harry to boost his spirits and I want to help plan it out. I cannot wait to come home and am counting down the days until Christmas Holiday. I have so much to tell you when I get home, I can hardly wait. I love you! And once again, I absolutely love this school and I will be careful. _

_All my love, _

_Your Daughter,_

_Hermione_

Not long after she finished her letter, Harry came in from practice and set his bag down on the table.

"How was it?" asked Ron, noticing Harry's face.

"Alright, I suppose," he said looking at them.

Hermione was becoming anxious. She hated seeing Harry like this and really wanted to find a way to help take his mind of off the upcoming match.

"Here, Harry. I checked this out recently and I think this will help take your mind off things," said Hermione grabbing _Quidditch Through the Ages _out of her bag. "For a little bit, anyway."

"Thanks," said Harry giving her a small half hearted smile.

Hermione watched Harry closely the next couple of days as the match grew nearer. None of the first year Gryffindors had even hinted about the banner, so she was fairly confident Harry still had no idea. Hermione decided that Thursday would be the best time to do it, since it was the last Quidditch practice for Harry before the match.

When Thursday evening arrived, Ron grabbed a Scabbers destroyed sheet and brought it down to a corner of the common room. Hermione was a bit anxious people would ask what they were doing and it would somehow reach Harry, but surprisingly no one seemed to really notice or care. Hermione decided it was best for her to oversee the operation and make sure everyone was doing their job correctly, since anything really artistic wasn't exactly her strong point, and she didn't want it to be ruined.

Roughly thirty minutes later, the Gryffindors first years, minus Harry, stood back to admire their work. Hermione examined it closely. It looked good, but there was just something missing, but what?

"There's something missing," she said moving her head examining it. She assumed by the few nods she saw out of the corner of her eye that the others agreed.

"What about a loin? You know, for Gryffindor?" asked Dean.

Hermione looked at it and tried to imagine a loin with it and how it would look.

"I think that would look good," said Parvati backing up Dean.

Lavender agreed. "It would really add to it."

"Well, that'd be great," said Ron sarcastically, "but who here can draw."

"Hey, Dean. You're a pretty good drawer, mate. You try," said Seamus nudging Dean.

Dean kind of shrugged a little.

"Do you think you could draw a decent loin?" asked Hermione. Now she was really nervous. She really liked Dean, but she was terrified the banner may get ruined. "You can always try to salvage it with magic, if it's too bad." said a voice in her head.

"I'm pretty good, I guess," said Dean.

"Go ahead, Dean," encouraged Neville. "Try it."

With the majority of the first years encouraging him, Dean gave a little casual shrug and grabbed the quill. Hermione was torn between watching him, and turning her head away so she wouldn't have to see. There were a few times where Hermione wanted to stop him, but she figured if she bothered him too much, the first years would make her finish it and she knew she for sure wouldn't be able to do it. Besides, so far the outline was looking very good. After several more anxious minutes of Hermione ringing her hands and peering over shoulders, Dean finally stood back to admire his work.

"Well?" he asked tilting his head from side to side.

The first years responded with an assortment of compliments and Hermione breathed a deep sigh of relief. It looked good; in fact it looked very good. After all agreeing it was acceptable they quickly put it away before Harry came back. Getting ready for bed that night, Hermione thought back to the banner. She did like it, but she thought it needed just a little something more. Frustrated that she couldn't figure out what it was, she put the banner's imperfections to the back of her mind and went to sleep.

Friday afternoon after their last class found Hermione, Harry and Ron standing out on the grounds. The common room was getting ready for the match tomorrow and it wasn't helping Harry any, and the noise level was making it nearly impossible to do any homework. The weather had definitely become colder and the three of them were huddled around the jam jar Hermione had been using to practice her blue bell flames which she had recently mastered.

Turning their backs to the flame to warm up, they watched Snape walk across the yard. "Snape's limping," said Harry as they watched him. Instinctively, they crowded closer together; nervous Snape would see the fire and find something that was against school policy. Although Hermione felt a little more comfortable breaking smaller school rules, she definitely didn't want to get caught breaking them. She was sure Harry and Ron didn't want to either. Hermione bit back a small groan when she saw Professor Snape begin to limp over to them. She was sure they had guilty looks on their faces which probably caused him to investigate.

"Oh! I hope he hasn't seen the fire," thought Hermione anxiously. She didn't know how much trouble she would be in, but she did not want to find out. She was sure she would get in the most trouble, though, since she was the one who conjured it, and neither Harry nor Ron really played a part in it. Getting more anxious by the minute she thought of something to say to Professor McGonagall or even Professor Dumbledore assuming that's where Snape would take them to. She hoped so at least. She knew she probably had better chance of getting a slightly less severe punishment with them then if Snape dealt with them.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?" he asked in his low voice.

Hermione almost breathed a sigh a relief when she realized he hadn't seen the fire. She would've felt better, however, if she knew Harry wasn't going to get into trouble.

"It's _Quidditch Through the Ages, _Professor," said Harry innocently, showing Snape the book.

"Library books are not to be taken out the school," sneered Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

Hermione knew he made up that rule. Students brought library books outside the school to study all the time, especially when the weather was nice. She figured, however, it was best to keep her mouth shut in case he took away more house points.

"He's just made that rule up," muttered Harry angrily, voicing Hermione's thoughts. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno," replied Ron, "but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly as they watched Snape limp away.

Returning to the common room that evening, the excitement and noise level had not decreased any, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron found an empty table next to the window. Hermione could tell Harry was getting restless as she checked over their Charm's homework.

"I'm going to ask Snape if I can have it back," Harry said eventually.

"Better you than me," said Hermione and Ron together as Harry got up and left.

"Do you think Snape will give it back to him?" asked Hermione looking up from Harry's homework.

"Dunno," said Ron shrugging. "But I hope there are other teachers there when he asks."

After a little time had passed, Hermione began to worry. She was about to ask Ron whether he thought something may have happened when Harry returned to their table breathless.

"Did you get it?" asked Ron looking up from the mistakes he was fixing on his homework.

"No, but you'll never believe what I saw," he told them in low whisper. "Filch and Snape were in the teacher's lounge and Filch was bandaging Snape's leg. It looked really bloody from where I was standing and he mentioned the three headed dog," said Harry breathlessly. "You know what this means?"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"He tried to get past that three headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him—he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick _he_ let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

Hermione felt her eyes grow wide after listening to Harry's story. Although she knew he fully believed every word of his theory, she just wasn't convinced. He's a professor! He wouldn't do something like that, especially with Dumbledore around. You would have to be either mad or stupid to try and pull something like that under Dumbledore's nose. As much as she wanted to, she just couldn't see Harry's theory to be entirely true.

"No—he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teacher are saints or something," snapped Ron quickly. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

Hermione was about to retort Ron, but decided it would be useless as Harry and Ron were now discussing Harry's theory and the three headed dog more in depth and completely ignoring her.

"Boys!" she thought rolling her eyes and going back to the chapter she was reading.

That night, getting ready for bed, Hermione rethought about Harry's theory. She wanted to believe him, but she just couldn't believe Professor Snape would do something like that. Sighing, she got into bed and hoped the situation that happened earlier wouldn't affect Harry's game tomorrow.

**Author's Note: Well, here it is. I'm really sorry it took me so long to write and upload it. This chapter was giving me a lot of trouble and I didn't want to upload something that sounded like crap, so I really hope this doesn't. Thank you so much to everyone for being so patient with me, reviewing it, and adding it to their favorites. It means a ton to me! **** Chapter 14 is on its way, (hopefully soon). Hope you enjoyed it, and thank you again! **


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to his magical world. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 14**

The next morning when Hermione woke up, Harry's theory from the previous night was quickly replaced by the thought of the upcoming match. Getting dressed, she met Harry and Ron in the common room and they headed down to the Great Hall. She, along with what seemed like the majority of Gryffindor first years, noticed Harry was just picking at his food rather than eating it.

"Come 'on Harry, you've got to eat some breakfast," said Ron.

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit a toast," coaxed Hermione putting a piece on his plate.

"I'm not hungry," said Harry looking up at them beginning to get a little annoyed.

"Harry, you need your strength," put in Seamus Finnigan grabbing the ketchup. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team," he said piling ketchup on Harry's sausages.

Hermione wanted to groan. Why, oh why, did Seamus have to say that? That was bound to make Harry more anxious than what he already was.

"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry.

After breakfast, Harry left for the locker rooms while Hermione and Ron went back to Gryffindor Tower to retrieve the banner meeting Dean and Seamus at the portrait hole. Grabbing the banner, Hermione and the other Gryffindor first years looked over it once more.

"I like it," said Lavender examining it. "It looks good."

Parvati agreed with her and they left to go get good seats down at the pitch. Hermione had to agree with them, it was very good, but she couldn't help but think something else could be added. Then it dawned on her. Grabbing her wand she concentrated and performed the tricky color changing charm she had been practicing.

"What are you doing?" asked Ron watching her.

"There," she said satisfied as the paint began to change different colors.

She turned around and began to walk down to the pitch and couldn't help but smile at the shocked and impressed looks on the boys' faces.

At the pitch, Hermione and Ron found seats in the top row and were soon followed by Dean, Seamus, and Neville. Hermione was beginning to get very excited. She had no idea what to expect, but judging by the atmosphere of the students, it was bound to be exciting. Looking around it looked like the whole school had filled the stands and many students had binoculars. Hermione was growing more and more impatient as the start of the match got closer. Finally, she saw the Gryffindor team enter the pitch.

"There's Harry!" said Hermione excitedly. She could just make him out amongst the cluster of red robes which contrasted against the opposing Slytherins' green ones.

"Hello! And welcome to Hogwart's first Quidditch match of the season! Today's game, Slytherin verses Gryffindor!"

A large cheer erupted from the Gryffindor stands at these words. Hermione recognized the commenter as Lee Jordan, a third year who seemed to be best friends with Ron's twin brothers.

Hermione watched eagerly as the teams took their positions. She heard Madam Hooch's whistle and cheered with the rest of the Gryffindors as fifteen brooms shot up in the air.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor—what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too—" commented Lee.

"JORDAN!" Snapped Professor McGonagall.

"Sorry, Professor."

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve—back to Johnson and—no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle—"

Hermione was barely listening to Lee's commentary. Instead, she was trying to focus on Harry, then switching her attention back and trying to watch the entire team. She watched tensely as Angelina Johnson, a third year, flew toward the goal posts.

"Keeper Bletchley dives—misses—GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" yelled Lee into the microphone.

Hermione and the rest of Gryffindor house cheered extra loudly. She could just faintly hear the Slytherins booing, but it was drowned out by the Gryffindor's enthusiasm.

"Budge up there, move along."

She looked toward the voice.

"Hagrid!"

Hermione and Ron squeezed closer together to make room for him.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck. "But it isn't the same as bein' in crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin', replied Hagrid peering at the speck that was Harry through his binoculars, who was flying high above them.

Hermione was a tad disappointed that she didn't have a pair of binoculars she could've brought with her. It was obvious they came in useful during the match.

"I think Harry's seen the snitch!" said Hermione excitedly as she watched Harry and Slytherin seeker dive.

It seemed like the entire Gryffindor house, as well as the team was completely focused on Harry. They were neck and neck. Hermione bit her lip.

Suddenly, the Slytherin captain blocked Harry's broomstick, causing him to hold on for life as he spun off course. A roar of rage was echoed from the Gryffindors below—"Foul!"

Hermione was torn between her concern for Harry and anger toward the entire Slytherin team, especially the Captain.

"Send him off, ref! Red card!" yelled Dean.

"What are you talking about, Dean?" asked Ron looking at him.

"Red card!" answered Dean furiously. "In football you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"

Hermione was only paying half of attention to the boy's conversation. She knew very little about sports, even Muggle ones, but she did know what a red card in football meant.

"But this isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him.

"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air," said Hagrid siding with Dean.

Hermione could hear Lee insulting the Slytherins and getting reprimanded by Professor McGonagall.

Ignoring the boys, Hermione kept her eyes glued on Harry only once in a while looking at the other team members and what was happening the rest of the game. Although she had been concentrating on Harry, she didn't expect to see his broom lurch in an odd sort of way.

"What is Harry doing?" she asked herself. Suddenly she gasped. Harry's broom began to zigzag and simply started to go wild. Hermione looked around the crowd. No one seemed to have noticed Harry's broom, not even the teachers.

"Why doesn't anyone else see it!" thought Hermione anxiously.

However, by now, the Gryffindor first years were noticing and pointing at Harry's broom and soon many of the other spectators noticed.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid muttered watching him through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom…but he can't have…."

Harry's broom now looked like it's only intention was to completely knock Harry off it, and from the looks of it, it was close to succeeding.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" whispered Seamus, watching Harry wide eyed.

Hermione was asking herself the same thing. But a student wouldn't be able to produce magic like that—not even a seventh year. It would have to be a very powerful wizard to be able to anything similar to that. The only people Hermione knew who were powerful and smart enough to do those types of spells were the professors, but none of them wanted to hurt Harry—did they? In the back of her mind a small voice brought up Harry's theory about Snape.

"No," she thought. "He wouldn't…He's a professor…but just maybe…"

"Can't have," she heard Hagrid answer, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic—no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

At those words, Hermione knew she had to check her growing suspicion. Grabbing Hagrid's binoculars she quickly aimed them toward the teacher's stand and narrowed in on Snape.

"What are you doing?" asked Ron looking somewhat ill.

"I knew it," she said turning to face Ron. "Snape—look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars from her and narrowed in on Snape. He had his eyes stuck solely on Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath.

"He's doing something—jinxing the broom," explained Hermione trying to think of a way to somehow stop Snape or stop the broom from bucking Harry off. And then it clicked.

"What should we do?" moaned Ron.

"Leave it to me," she quickly said and left the stands.

Pushing, shoving, and attempting to run over to the teacher's stands she barely thought of the consequences she could face if she got caught. She was in such a rush she didn't even stop to say sorry to Professor Quirrell after she accidentally knocked him over. Once she was behind Snape, she crouched down and whipped out her wand.

"Azuleas Inflamarae."

She waited until she heard an alarmed yell that signaled her plan had been fulfilled successfully, then quickly scooped the fire into the jam jar she had been carrying around in her cloak, specifically for that type of fire, before Professor Snape, or any of the other professors became suspicious.

"Oh! I hoped it worked!" she thought desperately while sneaking away.

As soon as she felt she was far enough away without the possibility of being caught or blamed, she quickly focused back on the match trying to find Harry. She spotted him just as he roughly hit the ground on all fours looking like he was about to throw up.

She made a mixed face of disgust, eagerness, and concern.

"I've got the Snitch," he yelled holding it up with his hand.

Hermione started cheering, screaming, and clapping. They had won! Harry had caught the Snitch—Gryffindor had won!

The game had ended in complete confusion and it was pure luck between Flint complaining and Lee Jordan still shouting the results that Harry was able to sneak off with Hermione and Ron to Hagrid's hut for a much needed strong cup of tea.

"You were brilliant," said Ron as they walked to Hagrid's.

Hermione didn't know if he was talking to her or Harry but she smiled nonetheless.

Once they were comfortable, Hagrid poured them all a very large cup and discussed the game.

"It was Snape," explained Ron. "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

Hermione delicately sipped the hot liquid and could only nod in agreement with Ron.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid with a wave of his large hand. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

Hermione doubted he had heard any part of her and Ron's hurried conversation and conclusion that took place in the stands.

Hermione caught the boys' eyes and she knew they were all wondering if they should tell Hagrid about the three headed dog and Harry's theory about it involving Snape.

"I found out something about him," said Harry deciding to tell Hagrid the truth. "He tried to get past that three headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he's trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hermione startled when Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" asked Hagrid.

Hermione could hardly believe her ears. Not only did Hagrid already know about that monster, it had a name!

"_Fluffy?"_

"That _thing_ has a name?" she asked surprised. She couldn't understand how something like that could have a name, especially a name like Fluffy.

"Yeah—he's mine—bought him off a Greek chappie I met in a pub las' year—I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the—"

"Yes?" asked Harry eagerly.

"Now don' ask me anymore," answered Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to _steal_ it," said Harry as though that would make Hagrid tell them about it.

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" exclaimed Hermione. "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him," explained Hermione. There was no doubt in her mind about it. She knew all about jinxes, and Snape had been jinxing Harry.

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" exclaimed Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh—yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel—"

"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked absolutely furious with himself.

Then tension was rather thick after the conversation, and even though Hagrid's tone indicated that the conversation be dropped and forgotten immediately, Hermione, Harry, and Ron left a little sooner from Hagrid's than anticipated, and with much more on their minds than before the match.

Later that night in the common room they re-discussed the previous conversation they had had at Hagrid's. They had been attempting to discuss it since they had arrived back at the castle, but everyone was still excited over the game, and the common room was loud and rousing. Since Harry had left right after, everyone it seemed wanted to talk to him about the game, his marvelous catch, congratulate him, or just talk to him in general. Overall, it much too loud for them to discuss anything for fear of being overheard. This carried on until Harry, Hermione, and Ron were able to squeeze away for dinner, hoping that when they came back, some of the excitement would have diminished some.

Even at dinner students from other houses came over to congratulate Harry on the match, along with a few Gryffindors who hadn't been able to in the common room. Once in a while, a daring Slytherin would walk behind Harry and make a rude comment about how pitiful his seeker and broom handling skills were, but among the other praise, Hermione doubted any of it bothered him.

When they returned from dinner they grabbed an empty table near the fire. The excitement in the common room had worn down and Hermione was grateful they were able to sit at that particular table without having to worry about eavesdroppers. The weather was subtly starting to become colder, especially at night, and she was glad when she could get a table near the almost constantly burning fireplace.

"Well," said Harry, pulling out a book and parchment to make it look like they were doing work in case someone became suspicious of the three of them talking at table without any form of schoolwork.

"First thing first, we have to find out who this Nicholas Flamel is," said Hermione in an authoritive voice. "That will probably give us some clues to what that _thing_ is guarding." She was still having a hard time grasping the concept of that beast having a name like Fluffy.

"We obviously can't ask Hagrid," said Ron fiddling with a quill that was lying on the table. "Not after today."

"He wouldn't tell us anyway," said Harry pensively. "I could've sworn I've heard that name before," he said looking at Ron and Hermione. "But I can't remember where."

"Well, it's probably safe to say whoever he is, he's a powerful wizard, and probably important," said Ron.

"Have any of the professor's ever mentioned his name?" asked Harry looking at them questionably.

Hermione and Ron both shook their head.

"Not that I can think of," answered Ron.

"No, they haven't," answered Hermione. She knew she would have remembered it if a professor had mentioned it.

"What if we asked a teacher?" asked Ron hesitantly.

Harry shook his head. "No, I already thought of that. It might work, but they would probably go straight to Dumbledore."

Ron shrugged in agreement.

"I guess we're on our own, then. We're just going to have to research it," said Hermione looking at them. She fought back the urge to roll her eyes when she saw Ron's face after she spoke. She wasn't surprised, though. She knew Ron wasn't going to like that option, and she had a feeling Harry wouldn't be too enthusiastic about it either.

"I guess so," said Harry. "What other choice do we have?"

The rest of the weekend passed by quickly as did the thrill of the Quidditch match. There was still a bit of excitement in the air and some people still congratulated Harry on the win, but for the most part daily life returned back to normal with the exception of Hermione, Harry, and Ron trying to figure out the easiest way to unearth Nicholas Flamel from the thousands and thousands of books from the library. They hadn't even made a fragment of a dent in the few books they had looked through, and were still debating on what sections or categories he might be found in.

"What about Madam Pince…" whispered Ron a little hopefully as they began their search. "She doesn't have to tell us who he is specifically, just, you know maybe give us a general idea of where to start looking," said Ron opening an extremely thick book called _Most Powerful Wizards of the Earliest Centuries and their Accomplishments. _

Harry shook his head and started on a thin book with almost impossibly small writing. "She'll get too suspicious. It's better if we don't."

Hermione agreed with Harry although she secretly wanted to agree with Ron. She wasn't sure Harry really knew what they were getting themselves into attempting to find Flamel by themselves in Hogwart's enormously vast library.

"I'm going to start making a list," she said. "Maybe that'll narrow it down a little."

Nothing had gotten done the first time they attempted to find him. They stopped for dinner after hearing their stomachs growl, and Harry and Ron wouldn't be able to return after dinner since they still had homework to finish that was due the next day.

Rolling her eyes at how late the boys put off their schoolwork she headed back toward the library while they went to the common room. She knew she wouldn't get anything done that night, but she figured a little more searching wouldn't hurt.

Browsing quickly over the titles and looking at the different sections names to give her an idea on a list, she decided to get a book for a little bit of light reading. She hadn't gotten one recently and thought it would be relaxing.

"I'll stick to the possible sections he might be in, just in case," she muttered pulling out thick book called _Wizarding Accomplishments and Myths and their Connections with Muggles. _

She politely smiled at Madam Pince as she checked out the book then hastily walked away from her skeptical eyes. As much as she loved the library, it was already dark out and the corridors were quickly starting to get chilly and Madam Pince's glare only added to the coldness.

**Author's Note: I hope you liked it! I'm trying my hardest to make sure my fanfic Hermione actually sounds and acts like the real J.K.'s Hermione, so I hope I'm succeeding. As I mentioned earlier, I'm using lines from the book (and a few from the movie) because it's the original. This leads me to say that I'm following what's written in the American version, so it may not match up with versions from other countries. Thank you once again for everyone who commented, favorite, etc. **** Chapter 15 is nearly finished and should be uploaded shortly. **


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter**

Chapter 15

Although Nicholas Flamel was never far from their minds, school stayed the same and Hermione kept reminding Harry and Ron that they had to keep up with their work.

"It won't do you any good to find Flamel," she told herself, "if you fail your classes and get kicked out." She knew that way of thinking was a little extreme, but it allowed her to focus better. She had gotten use to the Slytherins' taunts and rude comments, almost all of them directed at Harry and now all but ignored Malfoy when he insulted Harry about the Quidditch match exclaiming loudly that a wide mouth tree frog would soon replace him. She did find silent satisfaction, however, when she noticed no one was amused by Malfoy's taunts, obviously too impressed with how Harry had handled himself on the bucking broom.

Hermione had nearly forgotten about the letter she had sent her parents until a dark brown owl dropped their reply in front of her one day at breakfast. A little shocked and feeling foolish about nearly forgetting about her letter in the first place, she gave the bird some of her sausage and watched it briefly as it flew off. Extremely happy about getting the letter, she slid it into her bag so she could read it after her classes and headed off towards Charms.

"So, did you find anything?" asked Ron hopefully as Harry met him and Hermione outside the Charm's classroom.

Harry had decided to skip breakfast and do a little more research before classes since he couldn't help Hermione and Ron the previous night due to Quidditch practice.

Harry ruefully shook his head.

"Oh," said Ron in a deflated voice. "I'm sure we'll find something soon," he said trying to sound more cheerful.

Ron and Harry then started to talk about Quidditch until Hermione shushed them as Professor Flitwick began the lesson. She pretended to not see the eye roll and look Ron gave Harry, and turned her full attention to the Professor.

"Now class, today we will be practicing an immobilization charm," he squeaked. "It is fairly simple but becomes more difficult depending on how large the object is you wish to immobilize and also at what speed it is moving."

He flicked his wand and behind his desk an assortment of different sized boxes landed gracefully next to his stack of books.

"We'll start out with something small, then increase the objects size as you progress," he said, looking around cheerfully at the students curious looks as to what was in the boxes. "The wand movement and spell are very elementary. Firmly point your wand at the desired object and confidently say '_immbouloius!"_ Make sure to aim as well. These are moving objects so you must be quick, otherwise it will not be effective. Class…"

"Immbulious!" echoed the class.

"Very good," he squeaked proudly. "Start with boxes on the right and continue down as you master the charm with each object. Don't worry, this charm will not negatively affect any of the objects. Off you go!"

The class hurried over to the desk, curious to see what they would be charming. The objects ranged from gobstones from the popular wizard game that was similar to Muggle marbles, to live mice which squeaked and scurried around in the largest box. Although a few of the students were a bit leery of actually practicing with the mice, soon the class was in mild organized chaos as different objects went rolling across the floor and desks, and choruses and echoes of '_immbulious'_ could be heard throughout the class.

At first, many of the students were not familiar with how much force was needed to effectively perform the spell and it was quite often an object would roll down the entire length of the desk because the student's spell was much too weak. On the other hand, other students were extremely confident in their ability to perform the spell, and would not only immobilize their object, but also other student's objects which shared that practice surface. There were also a few students who were a little too forceful while practicing with their gobstones and ended up exploding it instead of freezing it.

Hermione was very pleased with the progress she was making. It hadn't taken her long at all to master the charm on the Gobstones, or the Muggle marbles and golf balls, and by the time the class was over, she had successfully immobilized every item including three different mice, earning Gryffindor ten points. She was also pleased to see Harry's mind off of Flamel for the moment as she watched him and Ron laugh at a Gobstone which exploded after Seamus was a bit to forceful. She hoped the light heartedness of the class would carry over, but she could tell Harry's mind was back on Flamel by the end of it.

"Class wasn't so bad today," said Ron cheerfully after Flitwick let them out with no homework and hinted that they would be working on immobilizing flying objects next. That was what Hermione was most looking forward too.

Later that night, Hermione's mind was focused on Flamel. "I hope we find something soon," muttered Hermione to herself settling in bed with her parent's letter after Astronomy. She knew finding out who Flamel was very important not only to Harry, but both to her and Ron as well, but after Harry had incorrectly identified and wrote down many of Saturn's moons Professor Sinisatra assigned, Hermione was becoming a bit more worried about how much Harry was focusing on Flamel and much less so on other things, such as classes. Pushing that from her mind, she delicately opened the letter.

_Dear Hermione, _

_ Your father and I, once again, loved your last letter. Keep writing sweetheart, your letters truly are highlight of our day. _

_ Your father and I could hardly believe what we read about the troll break in on Halloween and had to re-read that part quite a few times before it fully dawned on us. Of course we worry about you, but we are going to trust your judgment and take your word that you and the rest of the students were safe. I'm sure you understand that this new world is extremely perplexing to us and we are trying to understand it as best we can, and are very proud with how fast you were able to adjust to it. _

_ We were thrilled when we read you had befriended those two boys. At first, we were a bit surprised that it was with those two since they didn't seem like people you would originally befriend, but we're very glad nonetheless. They both sound like very interesting boys, and I can hardly imagine having seven children. You are all I need, darling, but I'm sure you will have a lot of fun with them and your father and I are very excited to hear more about them throughout the year. I don't recall you ever mentioning this Hagrid before your last letter and your father and I are having a little bit of trouble imagining what he looks like, being twice the size of a normal man, but if you say he's a pleasant person to be around, he has our approval. Although, we are not very familiar with Quidditch and you will have to describe it to us in more detail when you are home, it sounded like you and your housemates were doing a very nice thing for your friend making the banner and I hope it turned out well. _

_ As for your schoolwork I'm very glad to see you advancing farther in your studies and enjoying them. We have no worries about your study habits and know you make us proud of with any of your accomplishments. I wish I could write as long and as detailed of a letter that you've written us, but unfortunately not enough goes on here to fill up that much parchment. Work is going well, and we still have a few people ask questions about you, which makes your father beam with pride when he explains you are exceeding at your studies and that you'll be home for Christmas. _

_ I'm very excited for when you come home so we can go Christmas shopping together. It makes me a bit sad to pass all the stores starting to put up decorations and not have you with me to look at them or to do early Christmas shopping. However, I am thrilled about you enjoying school and I know we can do plenty of shopping and looking at decorations when you come home. Unfortunately, I don't know what else I can write, but I'm very excited to receive your next letter. Please be careful, dear, and keep writing to us. It truly is the highlight of our day. Hugs and kisses. _

_Love, _

_Mum and Dad. _

Hermione read over the letter a few times and wiped away a tear that was threatening to escape. It was late, and she knew she would be a bit emotional after she read it. She also felt a bit guilty about how she had sugarcoated over the troll incident.

"It's better that way though," she told herself folding up the letter and tucking it under her pillow. She could just imagine how worried her parents were without telling them she was almost killed by the troll and didn't want to have them worry more than was necessary.

Smiling at the fact she would see them during Christmas Holiday she killed the lights, rolled over and thought about the fun she and her mother had had browsing all the Christmas decorations while doing Christmas shopping throughout the years.

The next morning, Hermione smiled at the thought of the letter and realized she had to start thinking about Christmas presents. She had been so focused on school, Quidditch, Nicholas Flamel, Harry, and going home for the Holidays she had completely forgotten about presents.

A bit apprehensive about another thing to think about, she realized she didn't have any idea how to get the presents. She was in school or on school grounds constantly. She knew some students in the older grades were permitted to go down to the village of Hogsmeade, but that wasn't until at least third year, if not older. Trying to think of a solution she left to meet Harry and Ron at breakfast before class. Perhaps if she couldn't figure anything out she could ask Ron. Although, she preferred she wouldn't have to. She hated when she would ask a question and Ron would answer it as though it was the simplest thing to figure out.

"Now if only he could answer that easy on his coursework," muttered Hermione leaving the portrait hole thinking to the last History of Magic assignment she had checked over for him.

After dinner that night, Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat next to the blazing fire trying to ignore the lingering scent of a Dungbomb one of Ron's twin brothers accidently set off. The incident had left the common room fairly empty with many of the students deserting it for nicer smelling areas. Hermione had figured it would have been the perfect time to search for Flamel but Harry and Ron had decided to put off an important potions essay until the last minute and she knew she would have to check their papers over.

"We could do this in the library," hinted Harry as Hermione began her Transfiguration essay not due until the following week.

Looking up at them she attempted to look serious.

"No. If we go to the library you'll only focus on Flamel and not your essay. I know finding out who Flamel is is important Harry, but so is your essay. Besides, do you want to give Snape a reason to take points away from Gryffindor?"

"No, you're right," muttered Harry.

Ron gave Harry a "sorry, but you're defeated, mate" type of look and went back to attempting to do his.

Hermione had considered going to the library and researching Flamel solely but doubted how much work the boys would actually get done and she knew she would be needed sooner rather than later to help.

As the month went on, the spirit of Christmas was becoming more evident in the halls, and Hermione's anxiousness about what to get Harry and Ron and how she was going to give it to them grew. "Maybe I could ask Lavender or Parvati," she thought looking through the Daily Prophet.

Figuring it was what she would have to do, she began to fold the paper until her eyes caught an ad in the back.

-OWL SERVICE FOR THE HOLIDAYS-

Not going to be home for Christmas, birthdays, any holiday and you wish to make sure your loved one(s) receive(s) their presents in a fashionable and guaranteed date? Order it with _OWL SERVICE_! Just order your product(s) from our extensive collection from local stores, give us the appropriate address, and you can be confident your loved ones will receive it by the guaranteed date, all for a small fee. Great for students going home for the holidays or staying at school, as well as ones traveling abroad whether for work or pleasure!

Reading over the ad, Hermione felt a small bit of relief. She couldn't see why this wouldn't work. She was nearly positive it was legitimate and she had heard of Owl Service before from other students. Slipping the paper carefully into her bag she headed off to Potions feeling better.

"Now is the question, what do I get them?" thought Hermione mixing in her mugwort into her potion. Snape, as usual, was slinking through the rows breathing down people's necks making everyone nervous.

They were concocting a fairly easy potion today, at least for Hermione, and she was glad because it gave her time to think. She saw Snape coming up the side from the corner of her eye and quickly made it seem like she was completely focused on her potion.

"What do you call this, Longbottom?" asked Snape in his eerily smooth voice.

Hermione looked over at Neville. "He looks absolutely petrified!" thought Hermione, her heart going out to him. She hated that Snape had to bully everyone, especially Neville. She knew he wasn't very bright, but she still felt bad for him. Having Snape glaring at you while you try to keep a steady hand, and concentrating on your directions for stirring was intimidating enough, and poor Neville looked almost sick.

Hermione heard Snape question Neville, but his back was turned and she couldn't hear Neville's answer. She could guess by the sniggers of the Slytherins though it probably wasn't the right answer.

"Idiot boy," growled Snape walking off.

Slowly the Gryffindors went back to their work after watching the entire thing. Hermione could tell Neville looked lost and held up the rest of her mugwort plant to show him the next step. Smiling gratefully at her he grabbed his mugwort and began to cut it up. After making sure he was actually doing it correctly, Hermione turned her attention back to her potion and what she thought the boys would want for Christmas.

"What do I get them?" she thought aloud. Quickly she looked around to see if someone heard her, but through the noise of bottling their potions and cleanup it was apparent no one had. The thought itself was beginning to irritate her.

"It shouldn't be this hard to think of a present for a friend," she thought annoyed as she walked a vile of her perfect looking potion to Snape's desk. Granted, she had never really had to buy gifts for close friends back home, but it still shouldn't be this hard! She wanted to get them something nice, without it being to over the top.

"Finally, we're free," said Ron as they left the cold darkness of the dungeons.

Harry and Hermione laughed. Had it really been all that bad? Harry suddenly became quiet.

"Why does Snape got to treat Neville like that?" asked Harry angrily clenching his fist. "He does it because he knows he can scare him."

"Because he's a great slimy git of a bully," said Ron matter of fact. "No other way around it. Now come on, I'm hungry.

Hermione smiled at Ron's statement. It seemed like he was _always_ hungry. "Well," she thought as they headed for the Great Hall, "if I can't find anything, I guess I can always get them food."

The rest of day passed nicely with Hermione, Harry, and Ron planning on going down to visit Hagrid but found his door locked, so they spent the rest of day in the library once again looking for Nicholas Flamel.

"We're never gonna find him," muttered Ron after a couple hours. His eyes had barely been skimming the words on the page for the last quarter of an hour.

Hermione secretly agreed with Ron, but kept that to herself as she knew how determined Harry was.

"We just have to keep looking," said Harry. "We're bound to find him eventually."

Hermione and Ron exchanged a look, but went back to searching their books.

As usual, they found nothing, and by the time dinner rolled around Harry had given up as well—at least for that day anyway. After dinner Hermione was actually glad Harry had Quidditch practice, otherwise she was sure they would probably be back in the library. By the looks of it, Ron was too.

Back in the common room, Hermione began the potions essay Snape had given them that afternoon.

"Do you think we'll ever find him, Flamel, I mean?" asked Ron grabbing his own bag.

Hermione shrugged and stopped writing. She wanted to believe they would find him for Harry's sake, but yet the odds of them succeeding were looking less and less. If only they could get a bit of a lead!

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Ron. "I thought about asking my brothers or parents, but I have to be careful if they get involved, you know," said Ron, "in case it's someone who we really shouldn't be looking up."

Wanting to change the subject to something different from Flamel, she asked him a question which had been wondering for awhile.

"What are you and your brothers going to do for Christmas? Are you guys going home?" She figured Harry would be staying over the Holidays from what she had heard about the Dursley's from him, and personally, she didn't blame him. And she knew the boys knew she was going home, but she was curious about Ron.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Depends on what Mum and Dad decide. If they go and visit Bill or Charlie we'll probably be staying here. It's too expensive to take all of us…"

Ron's ears suddenly turned red and he quickly went back to his work. Hermione had picked up Ron's family wasn't the wealthiest and she knew he became embarrassed from it easily.

"That'll be nice for Harry then. If you stay, I mean. He'll like that." Said Hermione deciding it was probably best to just ignore Ron's last statement.

"Yeah," said Ron cheering up again. "A whole Holiday of Nicholas Flamel."

Hermione laughed and went back to her essay. The talk about the holidays made it a lot harder for Hermione to focus on her essay and instead she thought about the days until she got to go home. If only she knew what she could get the boys. She thought about asking Ron right then, but decided against it. She wanted suggestions, but she didn't want him to know what he was getting, and it would just seem too awkward.

Suddenly, it dawned on her. "Candy! That's what I can get them. What 11 year old boy doesn't like candy?" she thought, disbelieving it had taken her that long to figure it out. It was perfect! She knew there were multiple of candy choices to choose from from the order form and she already knew both boys loved sweets. Relived she finally had figured it out and could send in the order, she happily went back to her essay.

The weeks passed and although they had had no better luck finding out about Flamel, school stayed the same, but there was a certain excitement in the air as the Christmas Holiday got closer. Professor McGonagall had recently come around and had all the Gryffindors staying at school sign their name. Harry was one of the first to sign up, but it was still uncertain if Ron and his brothers were going home or staying for the holidays.

One morning in mid-December, Hermione and the rest of the castle awoke to several feet of fresh fallen snow. Ron's twin brothers had taken advantage of this and had bewitched snow balls to fly at Professor Quirrell's turban. She heard Percy giving them a lecture about showing teachers respect. Although their common rooms and the Great Hall were always warm and comfortable, the rest of castle grew very cold, very quickly, especially down in the dungeons. Trying to focus on her work, and knowing the reality of going home for the Holiday was close, she and the other Gryffindors grouped around the small fires under their cauldrons to keep warm.

"I do feel so sorry," said Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

Hermione knew he was directing everything at Harry and she was glad to see Harry was ignoring it and not letting him provoke him. Gathering their materials at the end of Potions they left class and found a large fir tree blocking their path down the corridor. Hermione instantly recognized Hagrid.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" asked Ron through the open spaces in the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron," he replied.

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold draw from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley?"

Hermione glared at Malfoy.

"Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose—that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Hermione barely caught sight of Ron diving at Malfoy just as Snape slithered up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron let go Malfoy, but his ears were still bright red and he was clenching his fists.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid sticking his face out of the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwart's rules," answered Snape with a sneer in his voice. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you," he snapped as he turned back to the potions room.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, smirking at each other, roughly pushed their way pass the tree scattering needles everywhere.

"I'll get him," said Ron grinding his teeth and staring daggers at Malfoy's retreating back. "One of these days, I'll get him—"

"I hate them both," said Harry. "Malfoy and Snape."

Hermione didn't say anything. She hated Malfoy just as much as the boys, but Ron did almost start a fight with him, which _was _against the rules, giving Professor Snape full right to deduct points. She was angry Snape let Malfoy go without deducting anything from him. He _had_ been the one to provoke it.

She decided, however, to keep this thought to herself judging by the moods the boys were in.

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

Hermione was grateful to Hagrid for this, otherwise she had a feeling that's all they would complain about for a while.

Hermione felt herself smile as the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree into the hall. It looked brilliant! Chains of holly and garlands decorated the halls, and at least 12 Christmas tree were decorated with icicles and lit glittering candles. Hermione watched Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall add a few last finishing touches to one of the trees.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree—put it in the far corner will you?"

The three of them followed Hagrid over to the desired corner.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" asked Hagrid.

"Just one," answered Hermione. "And that reminds me—Harry, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

With Christmas coming, and Hermione leaving for home soon, they wanted to spend as much time searching as possible.

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from big gold bubbles coming out of Professor Flitwick's wand which were directed toward the new tree.

"The library?" said Hagrid as they left the Great Hall. "Jus' before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not studying," answered Harry cheerfully. "Ever since you mentioned Nicholas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You _what?_" said Hagrid shocked. "Listen here—I've told yeh—drop it It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

Hermione wasn't surprised by his reaction.

"We just want to know who Nicholas Flamel is, that's all," she said.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" added Harry hopefully.

Hermione knew instantly he wouldn't, but that didn't stop her hoping a little. As much as she wanted to find out who Flamel was, and didn't mind scouring the library, she hoped any clue might curb Harry's obsession with him, as well as narrow down the search she was starting to believe was nearly impossible.

"We've must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere—just give us a hint—I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," answered Hagrid flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron as they hurried off to the library leaving behind a very disgruntled Hagrid.

Upon entering the library, Hermione took out newly updated list of where she thought he might be located and headed off towards the shelves that housed Transfiguration books, as Ron began to randomly pull of books of the shelf. She saw Harry turn the corner and had a feeling he was going to try and get near the Restricted Section. She had considered Flamel possibly being in a book shelved there, but she knew it would be impossible to get access to even look. Only older, advanced students studying Advanced Against the Dark Arts, would be allowed in there, and besides that, you needed a specially signed note from a professor to even enter the section. She knew no professor would give a first year permission to even enter the section, much less actually check out a book. And even if they somehow were able to obtain a note without arousing suspicion, Hermione didn't even want to begin to think about some of the books housed in there. She knew how dangerous magic could be, even if it was in a book.

Browsing different titles to see if any jumped out at her, she heard Harry's voice.

"Nothing."

"You'd better get out, then. Go on—out!"

Hermione resisted rolling her eyes. She knew Madam Pince had found him gazing at the Restricted Section. He often did that when they were searching. Knowing they weren't going to find anything, Hermione looked until she found Ron and they met Harry out in the hallway.

"You _will _keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" asked Hermione as they headed for lunch. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

Hermione smiled. "Very safe, as they're both dentists."

That night, Hermione put Flamel from her mind as she packed for home. She could hardly contain her excitement while she listened to Parvati and Lavender talk about their holiday plans. So far Hermione knew Parvati and Lavender were going home, as well as Neville and Dean but she wasn't sure about Seamus or Ron.

She had sent the Owl Service forms for Harry's and Ron's presents earlier that night and after triple checking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she laid down and attempted to ignore the small group of butterflies that was now mixing with her excitement. She knew she had changed a little, and she was sure her parent's had changed a bit as well, but she hoped it wasn't too much. She was anxious how she would fit back into her somewhat old life. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she turned her thoughts to how this time tomorrow she would be back in her own room in her old bed.

The next morning she skipped breakfast to nervous and excited to eat. The train was leaving soon, and students were dragging their luggage to the front doors while others were running back to their rooms for forgotten items.

Making her way to the doors with her truck she saw Harry and Ron in the Great Hall and stopped to say goodbye.

"Knight to H3," said Harry, who was focused very intently on a chess board.

Ron looked at the board a moment then confidently ordered his queen.

"Queen to H3."

Hermione watched appalled as Ron's queen took her chair and smashed Harry's knight.

"That's totally barbaric."

"That's wizard's chess," answered Ron in a smart tone. "I see you've packed," he said looking at her.

"Seen you haven't," she retorted.

"Change of plans, my parents are going to Romania, to visit my brother Charlie."

For a moment Hermione felt a bit deflated. She had hoped she would have someone to sit with on the train ride back, but quickly realized he would be keeping Harry company and two people searching for Flamel was better than one.

"Be careful, and don't forget to owl me if you find anything," she reminded them.

They both nodded, but Hermione had a feeling they were a little to engrossed into their game to really pay attention to anything she was saying. Rolling her eyes she figured it was almost pointless.

"Happy Christmas," she said grabbing her trunk and following the other students towards the front doors. She instantly spotted Hagrid and walked over to him.

"Happy Christmas, Hagrid," she said cheerfully.

"An' a Happy Christmas to you too, Hermione," he said smiling at her. "Here, I'll take yer trunk and yeh can go get in a' carriage. "

She hadn't even thought of how she and the rest of the students would be reaching the train platform until she followed the group of student out of the front doors. She doubted they would use the boats, but hadn't thought any farther than that as her thought process was cut short by one of the boys. She was still taken aback, however, by the sight of a line of horseless carriages.

Somewhat fascinated by the sight, she watched as some of the older students opened doors and climbed in, accompanied by the occasional "Hey, we're in here."

Beginning to get a bit nervous about where to sit, she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Neville. It turned out Neville had found the other Gryffindor first years, but Lavender and Parvati were sitting with Parvati's twin sister and one of her Ravenclaw friends, and Dean and Seamus were stuck sharing a carriage with an older year Slytherin and an older year Ravenclaw.

Together they were able to find a half empty one with only two Hufflepuff first years they knew from classes, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchy.

Hermione was secretly grateful it was those two in the carriage. She wouldn't mind if it had been older years, but she had been nervous she would have been the only first year, or worse, with a bunch of Slytherins. She had a feeling Neville was grateful, too.

Justin, who was Muggleborn like Hermione, started a conversation about how cool the carriages were to not need horses and how he had almost had to sit with some Slytherins before he ran into Susan and they found this one.

Hermione thought she saw something cross Neville's face as Justin was talking, but took it as a trick of the light as it gone instantly.

The conversation was short, and soon all four of them sat in silence, all thinking how soon they would be home. On the train Hermione decided to share a compartment with Neville as Susan and Justin went off to find Hannah Abbot and Ernie McMillan, two other Hufflepuff first years.

Is wasn't long after they found one that Dean and Seamus came in to sit with them. They talked about their plans for the holidays, but that soon became boring and Hermione began reading as the boys took out a wizard card set. Watching the scenery flash by, she smiled, knowing she'd be home in just mere hours.

**Author's Note: Well, here is chapter 15! Unfortunately, this chapter was really difficult to write and it's not my favorite, but I hoped it turned out and people are happy with it! I wanted to somehow combine lines from the book and the movie for this chapter, mostly because I really like the Christmas chess scene (between Ron and Hermione) in the movie, so I hope I did not butcher this chapter completely! Anyways, I hope you like it and I hope chapter 16 won't take me this long to write and upload! Lastly, a HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or read and liked it!**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: I do not own Harry Potter. Hope you like it! **

**Chapter 16**

Hermione could feel the excitement in the air as the train pulled into the platform. Some of the students had changed out of their school uniforms and into more Muggle type clothing but other students just left them on. Hermione felt proud of her uniform she so opted to keep it on, but took off her robes so her uniform would look more Muggleish.

The butterflies had returned by the time the conductor was announcing their arrival at the platform and she could only offer a feeble smile to the many "Happy Christmases" she heard. For a fleeting moment she worried her parents wouldn't be there to pick her up. Either they had forgotten or had gotten so use to not having her at home; they decided they didn't want her anymore.

"Don't be ridiculous," she told herself angrily, thinking back to the all the letters she had received. "They can't wait to have you home."

Although she felt a little foolish, she couldn't help but look for her parents in throng of people who were awaiting their children at the platform. She knew she would have had to walk through the barrier, but she couldn't help the occasional glance around every couple of seconds. Taking a deep breath, she tightened her grip on truck as she prepared herself to walk through the barrier.

She felt ashamed and a bit angry at herself for acting like such a child. She had been so excited to see her parents, and she couldn't wait for Christmas Holiday at the beginning of the year and now it was finally happening.

A man was only allowing two or three students to go through at a time to avoid arousing any suspicion and all around students were excitedly waiting to go through. Hermione shook herself out of it.

"Everyone else is excited," she told herself. "Besides, it is your old life. The transition may be a bit weird at first, but you'll get over that, and soon it will feel like you never left."

Taking a deep breath she passed through the barrier with an older boy she didn't recognize.

She quickly looked around the extremely crowded platform but didn't recognize a face. The frightening thought of her parents forgetting her was beginning to creep slowly back into her mind.

"Hermione!"

She felt as though a huge weight had been lifted out of her stomach and a large smile spread across her face as she saw her mum and dad maneuver around the large amount of people.

"Mum. Dad." she said hugging them.

"Can you believe the crowd here today?" asked her father as he took her truck from her and began to wheel it through the crowd. Hermione's mum had her arm wrapped around her shoulder and every so often gave her a soft squeeze, almost to make sure Hermione was actually there.

"We were so worried we would miss you," explained her mother. "We considered going through the barrier, but we weren't sure if we would be allowed, and we thought it would probably be just as busy and confusing, if not more so, on the other side… but that doesn't matter now," smiled her mum.

As Hermione walked with her parents to their car, she noticed the feeling of apprehension was rapidly disappearing and felt peace of mind as she got in the car.

"Now, Hermione," said her dad as they pulled out, "tell us everything."

Hermione took a deep breath and described everything she could think of since the beginning of the year, telling them stuff she hadn't put in her letter to repeating topics she had covered more than once. She explained the castle, and the library, and the house ghosts, and her classes, and the moving portraits and the trick staircases and anything else that came to her mind.

Her parents were an excellent audience and held on to every word she said. The only parts she somewhat glazed over was the mountain troll and how in depth she, Harry, and Ron were looking for Nicholas Flamel. She had decided to leave out meeting Fluffy, and Fluffy altogether.

As the passing scenery began to become more familiar, she was nearly finished talking. After a brief moment of silent hesitation she mentioned Nicholas Flamel.

"Mum, Dad? Have you ever heard of someone named Nicholas Flamel, by chance?"

Her father looked at her through the rear view window.

"Not that I can think of, dear."

"Mum?"

"I don't think so," said her mother thinking hard. "Why do you ask, dear?"

"No reason," said Hermione as she waved the thought from her mind.

She would make sure to do a little more research during her break, but for now she just wanted catch up with her mum and dad and not worry about anything related to Nicholas Flamel, Fluffy, or Snape.

"So tell us a little more about your house, Gryffindor. That's what it's called, right?" asked her dad.

Hermione smiled, nodded and began to talk about McGonagall, the Weasleys, Nearly Headless Nick, Harry, Ron, and the others in her year.

By the time she had finished, and had talked herself out, they were pulling into their drive. Getting out of the car and looking at her house, she felt the smile that never left her face grow. "I'm home."

She felt her mother wrap an arm around her shoulders and squeeze her gently. She could hear her father getting her trunk out the boot, walking over to her and her mother.

"What do you say we go in?" he asked smiling down at Hermione and leading the way. With her mother's arm still wrapped around her shoulder, she smiled and followed her father in.

Sitting down on the couch she let a happy sigh, smiling as she looked around, her keen eyes spotting anything that had changed from her old life. Everything looked the same, but the flower arrangement her mother had set on the dining room table had been replaced with a more winter related arrangement, and a few of the family pictures had been changed.

"What do you think?" asked her mom. "We didn't change anything too much, and we kept your room how you left it."

"It's better than I remember," she said looking at her mum.

"So, what do you think?" asked her father coming in the sitting room. "Of course, it's not a castle, and you won't be sharing your room with anybody…" he said jokingly.

"It's wonderful," said Hermione, smiling at both her parents. "It really, really, is."

"Good," said her dad, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Of course, now that your home, it's bound to be much better."

Hermione laid her head back, thinking for the millionth time how happy she was to be home.

"So, now that your home, what do you want to do? We can go out for dinner, or we can grab a take away, or I can cook something…" asked her mother sitting next to her. "Also, we have the Christmas tree out, but not set up or decorated because we thought we could do that together, if you want."

Hermione sat back up, and thought about what she wanted to do. She really was enjoying being home and didn't want to leave, but wanted to do a family activity since both her parents had to work tomorrow.

A little hesitant, she gave her idea. "Could we do take away and decorate the Christmas tree tonight?"

Her parents looked at each other. "I think that's a wonderful idea, a perfect way to celebrate you being home" said her dad getting up to grab the rarely used take away menus.

Hermione laid back once again and saw her mom staring at her.

"Mum, are you okay?"

Her mum smiled and gave her a hug. "Wonderful, I just can't believe you're finally home."

As Hermione hugged her mom she could hear her dad making his way back to the sitting room, and for a slight moment, she almost wished she had never chosen to go to Hogwarts. However, that thought was quickly gone from her head, as her dad came back with a stack of menus. She knew it was going to be hard to have to leave again, but for now she decided to not think about it and enjoy the time she had at home.

The next morning Hermione woke up to a bright room full of sun reflecting off the snow out on the lawn. Waking up, Hermione blocked her eyes from the invading light and slowly opened her eyes. Momentarily horrified she realized she wasn't in her four poster bed at Hogwarts, before a rush of excitement went through her as she remembered she was in her old bed.

She took a moment to reintroduce herself to her room. It felt weird to be back, but in a good type of weird. Once more she felt the tiny pang of sadness when she realized it was only temporary, but angrily scolded herself for even thinking about when she had to return, and tried to decide how she would spend the day instead.

After completing her morning routine, she went downstairs to find the take away boxes, and a few dirty dishes still stacked on the table and a note from her parents. Although, it was rare for her parents to ever leave dirty dishes or empty food boxes out, they had stayed up quite late and Hermione was glad to have something to do this morning, even if it was only a few dirty dishes.

Throwing the containers away, she read over the note.

Hermione,

I'm sorry we couldn't be home when you woke up. We wanted to say goodbye, but we didn't want to wake you. There is left over take away in the refrigerator if you get hungry. I'm sorry we couldn't stay home today, but I have tomorrow off and it's a short day for your father so we can do something then. Don't worry about the leftover dishes, I meant to do them earlier but we were in a rush. I can do them when I get home. Please enjoy yourself today, dear, and don't focus too much on schoolwork. See you when we get home! Love you, darling.

Love,

Mum and Dad

Hermione smiled as she finished the note. She left the note on the table, slowly washed the leftover dishes, and made herself some toast. She walked in to the den and smiled at the Christmas tree they had spent decorating late into the night, before turning on the telly to catch up on the latest Muggle news.

After watching an hour or so of the Muggle news, Hermione turned off the T.V. and walked around the house trying to decide what to do.

"I suppose I could start my homework," she thought as she went up to her room. "That way I'll have free time tomorrow to spend with mum and dad."

Satisfied with her reasoning, even though it did involve thinking about school, she grabbed her books and sat at the dining room table downstairs. Turning on the telly to help fill the silence, she wondered what Harry and Ron were doing. "I doubt they have even thought about their homework," she thought rolling her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile a bit as she imagined she'd find them rushing to do it the last day of their holiday. Opening her Transfiguration book, she began what she believed was going to be a very interesting assignment.

She did homework for the rest of day, stopping occasionally to watch the telly a little bit, eat a snack, or retrieve the post. Needless to say she was nearly finished when her parents arrived home and felt very accomplished.

Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing with her parents with them retelling their day at the office and how it was much busier during the holidays as many people tend to get cavities and chipped teeth due to all the extra sugary treats, with Hermione then telling about her homework and lessons and showing them the homework she was working as well as her school books, and making plans for the next day.

"This really is fascinating, dear," said her father during dinner as he examined her Transfiguration book.

After dinner, Hermione helped her mother wash the dishes, and they spent the rest of the evening watching the evening news and for Hermione, it felt exactly as it should—normal, as though she had never left in the first place.

The next morning when Hermione woke up, she was greeted by the smell of eggs and toast from downstairs.

"Good morning, sweetheart," said her mother as she sent a plate down in front of Hermione.

"It looks wonderful, mum," she smiled as she poured herself some juice.

Her mother poured herself some tea and sat down across from her.

"Dad already left for work, but he said he would love it we stop in to visit him during lunch. What do you think?"

Hermione could only nod as her mouth was full, causing her mother to chuckle.

"I'm so happy you are home, darling."

Hermione smiled, but could feel a lump in her throat start to rise as she immediately realized it was only for a few more days. Her mother must have realized she was becoming upset because she quickly changed the subject and Hermione slowly felt the lump disappear as she was able to push the thought of leaving out of her mind once more for a little while.

Once Hermione finished breakfast, her mother cleaned her dishes as Hermione got dressed and they left to shop around London, before visiting her father at her parent's practice for lunch. For Hermione, it was exactly how the Christmas mood should be set. There was a fresh layer of light, fluffy snow on the ground and more was falling, yet it was not very cold. Nearly all the shops had Christmas decorations on them, mixed with the occasional Father Christmas here and there calling out "Happy Christmas" and groups of carolers, all nestled in the hustle and bustle of London created the perfect Christmas setting for Hermione.

After about a half a dozen shops later, both Hermione and her mother were satisfied with their shopping and they stopped at a nearby café to pick up some lunch before driving to her parent's practice.

Returning home, Hermione went up to her room to wrap her parent's presents, hardly believing the next day was already Christmas Eve. While wrapping, she let her thoughts wander to her previous Christmas holidays as a child, and realized somewhat sadly she was growing up and was no longer a little girl and her holiday's weren't going be as they used to be.

"Stop it!" she scolded herself as she finished her presents. "Focus. You're with your family now, and it doesn't matter," she said picking up her now neatly wrapped presents to put under the tree.

The next few day passed by in a blur. She awoke Christmas Day with a feeling similar to how she use to feel Christmas morning as a child. Of course, she would never admit that to anybody.

"Happy Christmas, darling," said her mother handing her a cup of tea as her father came downstairs.

"Well, what do say? Should we open presents, then?" he asked, kissing his wife good morning and sat down next to Hermione. Turning on the telly to watch the Queen's Christmas address, Hermione sorted and handed her presents to her parents.

"We didn't know what to get you exactly, but we hope we did okay," said her mum.

Hermione smiled at her, knowing she would love her presents no matter what.

Half-way through present opening, Hermione and her family were interrupted by an owl tapping on their living room window. Hermione quickly opened the window and took the parcel from the owl, and was about to go find a bit of food for him when the owl gave a soft hoot, spread his wings and took off.

Hesitantly her parents looked at her.

"What is it, dear?"

"It's from Hogwarts. It's from Harry and Ron!" she realized, a smile spreading across her face.

Within an hour they had opened all their presents which consisted for Hermione; a new shoulder bag purse, new pajamas, a new watch, a couple of outfits she had noticed in the stores, a large bar of chocolate from Ron, new parchment and a beautiful new quill from Harry, among other things.

"I'm going to assume that chocolate is not sugar-free, is it?" said her father looking over it. Hermione ignored him.

"So, darling, what exactly did you get for Harry and Ron?" asked her mum as they began to eat dinner.

Hermione was a bit hesitant to tell her parents, seeing as they were dentists and she knew the sweets she gave them were far from sugar free.

"Sweets," said Hermione as she moved her food around her plate.

"Did you give their presents to them before you came home? Or how did you give it to them?"

A touched relived they didn't start asking about sugar or talking about how bad sweets are for your teeth, she explained all about the Owl Service ad she saw in the Daily Prophet.

Later that night, as she was putting her presents away in her room and getting ready for bed she thought about Harry and Ron and wondered if they were having as an enjoyable Christmas as she was.

"I hope they received their presents," she thought. "I hope they liked them," she added with a worriedly. She feared they would hate them and therefore think that she didn't care.

"Don't be ridiculous," she told herself rolling her eyes. "Their boys, I'm sure they loved them," she reassured herself before falling asleep.

She spent the rest of holiday break relaxing and reading a head on her lessons, as well as the book she checked out the library for a bit of late night light reading. She even visited the Muggle library and searched for Nicolas Flamel, and although she hoped she would somehow find anything, even a little clue, she was not surprised when there was nothing in the library's database.

It was however, the first time she ran into someone from the Muggle world who asked about school. One of the librarians who was very familiar with Hermione and knew her family quite well. She was rather old, but she was always sweet to Hermione and glad to see her every time she visited during the summer—which was quite often.

Hermione tried as politely as she could to answer around the questions without sounding rude, but she was terrified she would say something she wasn't allowed to and be suspended from Hogwarts.

She was grateful when the librarian handed her the book she was checking out for her mother without asking anymore questions. She said goodbye and quickly left the library praying she wouldn't see anyone else who would be curious enough to ask questions.

For the next few days, Hermione had been able to keep school out of her main focus for a while, but the thought was always in the back of her mind, and when she picked up the post she recognized the unmistakable letter from Hogwarts.

To: All Hogwarts Students Who Returned Home for the Holiday:

This letter is to remind you that all students must catch the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross Station at Platform 9 ¾ on January 1, at 11:00. Classes begin the next day. Hope you had an enjoyable Holiday.

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

A bit depressed, she showed her parents the letter and they decided to stay home the day before she went back as well as take part of the day off the day she had to leave so they could see her off and so they could spend a little more time with her.

The night before she went back, it felt awkward sleeping in her room. It brought back memories of the beginning of the year when she was leaving for the first time.

The next morning everything felt like it was moving in slow motion, but going too fast. While her father put her trunk in the car, she looked around her house one more time.

"Don't be foolish," she reprimanded herself. "You'll be back in a few months, and you can always write. Besides, you're going back to school; it won't be the end of the world."

Taking a deep breath, she rolled her eyes at how foolish she was acting, grabbed her school bag and got in the car. As they drove away, they talked about how exciting the school year would be and Hermione really began to feel a bit of excitement to return, but not before looking over her shoulder at her home, before they drove out of view.

It seemed as though King's Cross Station was busier than usual, and as Hermione and her parents pushed her trolley through the constant flow of people, she couldn't help but look for students she thought might be returning to Hogwarts.

"Well, here we are," said her father as they stopped near platform 9 and 10.

Both of her parents had smiles on their faces, but Hermione could see the sadness behind them. She was sure they could see through hers, too.

"You promise to write at least 2 times a week, right?" asked her dad as he hugged her tightly. "Preferably more, of course," he added letting her go.

"You'll have wonderful year, Hermione. I'm sure of it, and before you know it, it'll be time to come home for summer," said her mum as they hugged.

"Don't study too hard, but don't let your grades slip," said her father as she grabbed her trolley.

"I won't, and I promise to write," she said giving them a small smile. She knew the longer she stayed, the harder it would be to leave.

Her parents read her mind.

"You best go, dear. I'm sure the train will be filling up soon."

Giving them one more smile, Hermione took a breath and started walking, which turned into a light jog as she approached the barrier.

"You'll make it through, you'll make it through," she whispered. She knew she would, but she braced herself for the crash anyways. It never came.

Realizing she made it through, she opened her eyes to see the Hogwarts Express shining in the sun. She couldn't help but feel her spirits start to lift a bit as she observed the chaos and commotion around her. It was not as full as at the beginning of the school year, but there was still plenty to watch as she boarded the train and had the kind train conductor help her put away her trolley and trunk.

Sitting down, she grabbed her bag and took out a book, but was too distracted by all the commotion to really read very much.

"I wonder if I should find another Gryffindor?" she thought looking out her compartment door. "Or even another first year?"

She hesitated while watching a variety of students walk past her. On one hand she wanted to go find a classmate to share a compartment with, but she did not want to give up her compartment only to not find her classmates or have her compartment taken by a student in another year, or worse—a Slytherin.

She was about to sit back down in her compartment and wait and see if anyone she knew stopped by, when she thought she saw a boy look very much like—

"Neville!" she said happily, waving at him.

Neville looked up at hearing his name and gave Hermione a smile.

"Where are you sitting?" she asked as he approached her.

"Umm, well...I…um…" he stuttered.

Hermione gave him a pitiful look. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"If you don't have a compartment yet, you can share mine," she said smiling.

A look of grateful relief filled Neville's face.

"Thanks, Hermione," he said pulling his trunk in.

With a bit of magical help from Hermione, they were able to put his truck next to hers. Smiling at the look of awe and amazement on his face when she performed the spell, Hermione couldn't help but sit a little taller and straighter.

"Did you have a good holiday, then?" she asked him as they caught their breath.

Neville nodded. "Good enough," he said with a small smile. "You?"

Hermione nodded and began to tell Neville about it.

They were joined by two Ravenclaw fifth years, which spent the majority of time talking to each other. Hermione and Neville felt a bit shy and decided not to talk over them, so Hermione began to read and Neville took out that day's copy of the Daily Prophet.

The train ride there seemed much shorter than Hermione remembered and she felt a jolt of anxious excitement as the conductor announced they would be arriving in 10 minutes. As the train pulled into the station, the two Ravenclaw students confidently left the compartment, but Hermione and Neville nervously looked at each other before they got off.

Hermione first saw Hagrid as she and Neville were getting off the train. He smiled at them and gave them a reassuring wave when he saw them as they hurried to find an empty carriage. They wound up sharing with Parvati, her twin sister, Padma who was a Ravenclaw, and a close friend of Padma's.

Hermione and Parvati made small talk about their holidays', as the carriages pulled them up to the castle. When they arrived, Hermione quickly entered the castle with a smile, excited to find and catch up with Harry and Ron.

**Author's Note: Hey everybody, (new and/or old) I know it's been a while, but I have not given up on this story and I am starting to feel like writing it again, so if you've read it in the past and liked it, awesome and thank you! If you've just began to read it, I hope you are enjoying it! **


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 17 **

Not sure where the boys were, she decided to check the Common Room first, and if they weren't there, she decided she would check the Great Hall.

She was almost to the Common Room before she realized she didn't know the password. A bit bothered, she decided to check the Great Hall first, and even if they weren't in there, she was sure she would learn the password.

"Ah, Hermione! I didn't realize the students were already returning."

Hermione turned to find Percy Weasley walking toward her.

"Good evening, Percy. Good Holiday?" she asked.

"Quite. For you as well?"

Hermione nodded.

"Have you by chance seen Harry or Ron..?" she began.

She was sure he would know, he _was_ a Prefect after all.

"Yes, I saw them in Common Room not too long ago, I _believe _ they were working on homework."

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew they would have waited until the last minute.

"Thank you, Percy," she said walking toward the Common Room, before quickly turning around.

"What's the.." she began as he walked away.

"The password is Jelly Slugs," he finished for her over his shoulder.

Nodding, Hermione made to the Fat Lady, gave the password and quietly slipped in. She wanted to see Harry and Ron actually do homework without her help.

"How many newt eyes did you write for number four? And what happens if you add too many?" asked Ron, trying to look at Harry's answers.

"I didn't do that one yet," he said. "I'm still trying to figure out what the main theories and components are behind levitation."

"Oh good," said Ron. "I didn't get that one yet either."

Hermione sighed, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She honestly didn't mind helping them, but they were there to _learn_, and she knew copying work and waiting until the last minute were not appropriate techniques to learning.

"I'll just write down 4 newt eyes," said Ron. "Hermione will let me know if it's wrong."

Hermione gave Ron a disapproving look, but suddenly felt a familiar twinge of worry that they were only friends with her so she would help them with answers.

"Stop it," she said. "They've already proven they like you as a friend, even if you didn't help them."

But she couldn't quite shake the feeling.

"Do you know when she'll be back?" asked Harry as he started flipping through his Charms textbook.

"No, but I hope soon," said Ron, as he began writing down another answer Hermione was sure was incorrect. "I want to know how she liked her presents."

Feeling the worry slightly lift she figured she should probably start helping them before they made a complete mess of their homework.

"How many newt eyes did you put down?" asked Harry, giving up on his textbook and looking at Ron's parchment.

Hermione rolled her eyes and made herself known.

"You both know, you will never learn _anything_ if you just copy off of each other," she said disapprovingly as she sat down in an empty chair.

"Hermione!" they said together, smiling at her.

"Well, kind off," explained Ron. "If we both get it wrong, we both know that wasn't the right answer."

Harry laughed, and Hermione couldn't help but smile although she gave him a look which clearly read as a very annoyed "Really?"

"So is 4 the correct answer or…."

"No, it's zero. If you add newt eyes you'll cause it a terrible reaction between the dittany leaves and the ptolomy which will cause the potion to explode,"

Ron wrote down what she explained to him. "It's like he thinks we're third years or something. We've never even worked with dittany yet," he exclaimed.

Hermione gave him a hopeless look before turning to Harry who was craning his head to copy Ron.

"Harry, the answer to the Charms question is on pages 62 and 63."

Smiling gratefully at her, Harry grabbed the Charm's book he had recently given up on and turned to the pages.

Checking over their work, Hermione was actually very impressed. They had managed to complete most of their homework and she only had to make a few small corrections before she thought it was as suitable standard.

As she checked over their work their conversation turned to the holidays. She was pleased to hear they both enjoyed her presents, and was happy to hear that it had been Harry's best Holiday in his life.

"Go show Hermione what you got," said Ron to Harry.

"No," said Harry. "Not yet. There are too many people, I don't want everyone to know I have it. "

Hermione looked at him quizzically. Harry explained.

"It's my father's old invisibility cloak," he told her in a low voice.

Hermione eyes went wide.

"An actual, _actual, _invisibility cloak?" she asked amazed.

Both Harry and Ron nodded.

"Harry, I've read about those. They're extremely rare! And you said it was your father's? How do you know?" she asked intrigued.

It was a well known fact Harry was an orphan, but only a few people really knew just how little Harry had that had actually belonged to his parents.

"It was written in an anonymous note."

Hermione suddenly became a little leery.

"Are you sure it's safe, then?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "I'm sure of it."

Ron agreed. "He's already used it and snuck out three nights in a row!"

Hermione's leeriness suddenly immediately became shock.

"Harry!" she scolded. "What if Filch had caught you!"

Harry didn't answer her as he began to put away his completed homework.

Hermione assumed he had snuck out to search for Flamel and asked the question she was afraid to get an answer.

"He didn't look for…" began Ron, but Harry cut him off.

"I didn't find him," he said, "but I'm sure we will soon."

Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that they were still going to have to search for him and she was still bothered he had actually been out of bed and roaming the castle in the middle of the night.

She thought she saw Ron give Harry a suspicious look when he cut him off, and she had a feeling he had probably done more sneaking around than he should have been.

When Harry wasn't looking, Ron looked at Hermione and clearly gave her an "I have to talk to you" look.

Hermione nodded, both intrigued and a bit nervous, but quickly turned the conversation around to what the boys did during break to break the somewhat slightly awkward atmosphere hanging over the table.

Term started the next day, it took no time at all for the school or Hermione to fall back into their routines. Of course, that meant spending 10 minutes in-between classes skimming books in hopes of even finding a hint to a lead on Flamel.

It was less than a week into term when Wood began Quidditch practice again, which left even less time for Harry to help find Flamel. However, it was the first time Harry wasn't around so Ron was able to tell Hermione what he couldn't before.

"He didn't sneak around more than necessary, did he?" she asked.

"Not at first, but then he found this…mirror," said Ron.

"Mirror?" asked Hermione.

She knew very well Hogwarts hid many, many secrets, but a mirror just sounded rather out of place.

"Well, when you look in this mirror, you see, I guess what you most want," explained Ron. "At least, that's how Harry explained it.

Hermione was fascinated. A mirror that showed your desires.

"What exactly did Harry see?"

"He told me he saw his entire family, his mum, dad, everyone, but then… but then he started having these nightmares. He said it was fine for a little while, but then his parents would suddenly disappear in a flash of green light, while a high voice was laughing in the background."

Hermione played with her quill as she thought about what Ron had told her.

Hermione wasn't surprised by what Harry saw in the mirror. He had never known his parents, and from what he had told them about the Dursley's, she figured he desired to see a loving family since he never experienced or knew one was natural. What she was most intrigued by was the nightmare Ron had described.

"Do you think that's how his parent's died?" asked Hermione.

She knew it was a stupid question, and she already knew the answer, but she still asked it.

Ron nodded solemnly. "If Harry's dream really is how they died, and if everything about it is true; Harry heard You-Know-Who laughing," said Ron in a low voice.

They were silent for a moment, both thinking deeply about what was just said. Hermione broke the silence.

"You did tell him to stop going, right?" she asked, unsure of the answer.

"Of course!" he said sounding a bit defensive. "So did Dumbledore."

Hermione couldn't believe it. _Dumbledore _was involved as well?

"Dumbledore knew?!"

Ron nodded as he ate a chocolate frog he found in the pocket of his robes.

"I suppose he knew about the mirror, too. Doesn't surprise me, though," he said with a mouth full chocolate. "He's bloody brilliant, if not a bit weird."

Hermione made a face as he began to chew with his mouth open a bit, and was about to ask another question when Harry came through the portrait hole, wet from Quidditch practice, to change so they could go to dinner.

"I don't think we should tell Harry about this," he said to Hermione after swallowing.

Hermione nodded in agreement, deep in thought about what would she see if she looked in the mirror. She already knew, though. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore would make her a Prefect in her third year claiming they had never seen such a bright student come to Hogwarts, and Head Girl by fifth year.

"Ron," she said suddenly.

"Hmm?" said Ron up at her from the letter he was writing home. He supposedly had promised his parents he would write more often.

"Did you look in the mirror, too?"

Ron quickly averted his eyes and looked around the room before intently focusing on his letter. She thought his ears looked like they were turning red, but it could have been a trick of the light.

"Um, yeah," answered Ron. "I saw myself as Quidditch Caption and I had just won the Quidditch cup."

She wanted to say something, but Ron interrupted her before she could even open her mouth.

"Hard practice?" he asked as Harry came over to them.

Harry nodded as they left for dinner. Harry and Ron began to talk about the different techniques and game plans Wood was making them practice. Hermione only understood about half of what they were talking about, so although she somewhat listened to them, she thought more about the mirror and what magic it could posses as well as puzzled over what would Dumbledore, one of the greatest wizards on Earth, see if he looked into it.

As the snow was replaced with rain, life at Hogwarts continued as normal, and Hermione was very glad to hear Harry's nightmares as subsided somewhat. However, she believed part of that was due to his intense Quidditch practices.

"I swear, Wood won't be happy until we're either dead or the team kills him," said one of Ron's twin brothers at breakfast one morning after a particularly intense practice.

Hermione still couldn't tell them apart, and she was still a bit shy around them. They were always very nice and funny when they she was around them, but that was usually when they were talking to Harry or Ron.

"Is it really that bad?" asked Ron.

"It's taken over his life—more than usual. I can only imagine how far he'll go to win that cup," answered the other twin.

Recently, Ron offered to teach Hermione Wizard's Chess, and she immediately took him up on his offer. She knew a little about Muggle chess, but she had never learned although she had always intended to.

Although, Hermione was pleased with the progress she was making, she kept getting a bit frustrated that she couldn't master it faster. She was sure chess would have been something she was good at, but nearly every time she played against Ron, she lost.

"You just need to keep practicing is all," said Ron cheerfully as his knight stole Hermione's queen allowing Ron to check Hermione no matter where she moved her pieces.

She really was grateful that Ron was teaching her, but she had a feeling the only reason he liked playing against her so much was because he knew he was better at it then her.

It was during a fairly intense game did she feel like just maybe she would be able to check Ron for once. Harry was off at Quidditch practice and the students could hear the rain hitting mercilessly against the windows, and she could see Ron actually had to concentrate and plan out his moves.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry enter the Common Room still dressed in most of his Quidditch uniform.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron as Harry sat next to him, "I need to concen—What happened to you?" Ron asked suddenly looking at Harry's face. "You look terrible."

Harry glanced around as both Ron and Hermione bent their heads in a little closer.

"Snape decided he was going to referee at the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin."

"Don't play," said Hermione impenitently.

"Say you're ill," suggested Ron, right after Hermione.

"Pretend to break your leg," she said, unsure of why she thought of that, but it would stop him from playing.

"_Really_ break your leg," said Ron.

Hermione gave him a disapproving look. "Honestly," she thought, rolling her eyes.

"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

Hermione was about to throw out another suggestion when the portrait hole opened and Neville toppled into the Common Room.

It took a moment for them to realize his legs were stuck together and he must have had to bunny hop all the way up the portrait hole.

"Leg-locker curse," mutter Ron as the entire room burst into laughter.

Hermione quickly ran over to him.

"_Motus Subortus_," she said pointing her wand at his legs, which immediately sprang apart.

Shaking, Neville slowly stood back up on feet.

"Oh Neville," thought Hermione pitifully as she watched him get up.

"What happened?" she asked as she led him over to where Harry and Ron were sitting. She had a feeling she already knew.

"Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he's been looking for someone to practice on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall," urged Hermione. "Report him."

She knew Malfoy would never stop bullying Neville unless he did something-_anything_- about it.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's use to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor," Neville choked out, "Malfoy's already done that."

Hermione's heart went out to him. She could see he was about to cry.

She saw Harry reach into his pocket and pull out a chocolate frog. "Here," he said giving it to Neville.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," said Harry. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, Harry … I think I'll go to bed … D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

Hermione watched Neville walk away. Although she sure the Sorting Hat had it's reasons, she wondered if it made a mistake putting Neville in Gryffindor.

"_I've found him!" _Harry suddenly whispered.

Hermione quickly turned her attention back to Harry, all thoughts of Neville gone from her mind.

"I've found Flamel! I _told _you I'd read the name somewhere before. I read it on the train coming here—listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!" _

Hermione quickly jumped to her feet, feeling excitement she hadn't felt since she received her top marks on their first piece of homework.

"Stay there!" she ordered the boys, and ran up to the girl's dormitories.

"Why didn't I think to look in there?!" she thought exasperatedly. "It was in front of me the entire time!"

Opening her trunk she grabbed _Wizarding Accomplishments and Myths and their Connections with Muggles._

Feeling a mixture of foolishness for forgetting to look in the book in the first place, and of relief that at least now they had a lead to go on, she hurried downstairs, the book secured tightly under her arm.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. " I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"This is _light?_" commented Ron with an incredulous look.

Hermione brushed off his comment with short "Quiet," and opened the book.

"Where would he be?" she muttered under breath. "Would it be in the Myths or Accomplishments? Harry said he was known for alchemy, but that could easily be under transformation, potions, or charms. Would it be new or old accomplishments? If he worked with Dumbledore, he must have been brilliant, so could he by chance have anything to do one of the greatest alchemy achievements…?"

Finding what she was looking for, she quickly skimmed over the page.

"I knew it! I _knew _it!

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" asked Ron grumpily.

Hermione was too excited to care, and just ignored him.

"Nicolas Flamel is the _only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone_!" she whispered dramatically.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other then stared at her.

"How can they not be excited?!" she wondered staring at their blank faces.

"The what?" they asked.

"Oh, _honestly, _don't you two read? Here, look—read that, there," she said as she pushed the book toward them.

_She_, of course, had read about the Sorcerer's Stone in other books, but there were many questions surrounding its creation and the powers it supposedly possessed; as well as the many skeptical wizards and theories about its actual existence. She easily saw why it was such an arguable topic in the world of Alchemy. The stone embodied and combined the two main components of Alchemy—immortality and wealth—creating one of the most desired creations ever. She never would have thought Dumbledore would be connected to the stone though.

"See?" she said when Harry and Ron finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! _Anyone _would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry_," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

Harry and Ron had been talking non-stop about the stone since they discovered it last night, and by Defense Against the Dark Arts the next morning, Hermione was only paying semi- attention to them as she copied down different ways to treat werewolf bites, and they talked about what they would do if they had anything like the Sorcerer's Stone.

"I would buy my own Quidditch team," said Ron.

Harry suddenly became quiet.

"What's up?" asked Ron noticing.

"I'm going to play," he said. If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm too scared to face Snape. I'll show them … it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

Hermione looked at Ron.

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," she said, going back to her notes as Professor Quirrell began to teach again.

As the match got closer, Harry acted confident, but Hermione could easily see how nervous he was. It seemed like the rest of the team looked nervous as well. Although Hermione sincerely wanted Gryffindor to win, she was also sincerely worried about Harry's safety. Apparently, so was Ron as he brought up the topic one night when Harry was at practice.

Hermione was putting the finishing touches on her History of Magic essay, while Ron was attempting to play chess by himself.

"You know," she said, "if you started your essay now, you wouldn't need to worry about it tomorrow night."

"I suppose you're right," he admitted, watching one his pawns attack his knights, completely ignoring his books.

Rolling her eyes and wondering why she even bothered telling him, she neatly put away her homework and took out a fresh sheet of parchment to begin a letter home.

"Hey, Hermione," said Ron.

"Hmmm?" she replied, not looking up from her letter.

"I know you know the counter-curse for the leg locker curse, but do you know the actual curse?"

She looked at him questionably. "Why?"

"Do you?" he asked again.

A bit insulted this time that he actually thought she wouldn't know such a simple hex, she responded rather curtly.

"Yes."

"Could you teach me?"

She looked at him uncertainly.

"It's for Harry… I mean for the match. If Snape does try to do something to Harry, at least we could maybe help Harry."

"You mean _attack_ a teacher?!" she asked scandalized. "Ronald, we would expelled, or even worse…"

"No," he said annoyed. She assumed it was directed to her reaction.

"It wouldn't be attacking him, and I said _if _Snape tries something. At least we would know a spell to help protect Harry. Just in case."

Hermione thought it over. He had a fairly decent point.

"Well, I suppose it would be good to know the spell, and it doesn't necessarily mean we would have to _use _it...and if it would help protect Harry…."

"Good," said Ron, pleased she had agreed to his idea.

"But where would we practice?" she asked him.

"The Common Room," said Ron, like it was obvious.

"We can't do it there," she said. "People will become too suspicious."

"Oh, yeah…" said Ron looking a bit deflated.

"I suppose we could practice in an empty classroom," Hermione began slowly, "but I don't know what we say if a professor would see us."

Looking around her surroundings we realized the perfect place.

"We can practice in the library. It's relatively hidden, and it's not very crowded so people won't ask questions, and as long as we're not caught by Ms. Pince, I think it will work."

Ron mumbled something about "spending enough time in the library looking for Nicolas Flamel to last him all seven years," but he agreed with Hermione and unenthusiastically took out his homework after realizing there was nothing else to procrastinate with.

Since they were with Harry constantly throughout the day, they waited until he left for practice before heading down the library. Hermione hoped Harry wasn't suspicious of their activity, but she doubted he even noticed due to how worried he seemed about the upcoming match.

"This looks good," said Hermione, leading Ron to a secluded corner where a couple of study tables were set up.

"Now," said Hermione in tone that could rival any professor's, "the spell is _'Locomotor Mortis' _and you have to point your wand at the person's legs. Make sure when you cast the spell you have slight flick of the wrist, otherwise I don't know if it's successful."

"Hermione," asked Ron.

"What?" she asked, expecting to have to repeat the directions.

"Who are we suppose to practice on?"

Hermione blanked. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid! How could she have forgotten such a crucial detail.

"Um…well…, I…" She wasn't sure what they were going to do.

"We could go find Neville," suggested Ron.

Hermione frowned at him.

"Or we could go find some Slytherins and practice on them. Mind you, we would be in a lot of trouble if we were caught."

They looked at each other both unsure of what to do.

"I guess we could, you know, practice on each other," suggested Ron with a hesitant look.

Hermione had thought of that option, and although she knew Ron would never hurt her on purpose, she was she far from feeling confident in letting Ron practice a curse he hadn't mastered on her—even if it was a small one.

She wanted to tell him that they could practice solely on him, but she had a feeling he would not agree to that option and it wouldn't be much practice for him.

"It's for Harry," she told herself before agreeing to their only option.

"I'll curse you first," said Hermione as she drew out her wand, "but let's practice on nothing first."

After numerous attempts of leg-locking thin air, Hermione felt a bit better about letting Ron practicing on her—but only a bit.

"Are you ready?" she asked Ron as he positioned himself to grab the chair before he fell.

He nodded with an anxious look on his face.

"_Locomotor Mortis!" _

Hermione smiled proudly as Ron's leg instantly snapped together, and he frantically attempted to grab the chair to stop his fall.

"Good job," he said. "Now undo it."

Hermione noticed his face was looking a bit pale and quickly performed the counter-curse.

They switched places and Hermione took a deep breath.

"Now remember, the counter curse is '_Motus Subortus_,'" she reminded him.

He nodded at her and she could see him mutter the spell under his breath.

"Ready?" he asked.

Hermione nodded, bracing herself for the worst. Although, she was expecting it, it was still an uncomfortable shock as she felt her legs quickly and forcefully draw together. She immediately realized her body was out of balance and quickly grabbed the chair before she could fall.

"Very nice," Hermione said a bit weakly, ready for him to already perform the counter-curse.

"_Motus Subortus!" _

Relief filled Hermione as she felt her legs become free once again.

Ron looked proud of himself, and Hermione decided she wouldn't tell him he had performed a very simple spell that all first years should be able to do.

"Should we try it a couple more times, d' you think?" asked Hermione.

She wasn't very fond of not being able to open her legs, but she had a bit more confidence in Ron and she knew that to master a spell, one usually has to practice more than once.

Ron agreed, but he didn't look very happy too.

After they had each endured becoming momentarily paralyzed waist down a few more times, they both agreed they had practiced enough for the night and Hermione felt fairly confident with how well they had mastered the spell. A bit shaky, they slowly made their back to Gryffindor Tower.

On the morning of the match, all three were too nervous to eat much at breakfast. As hard as they tried to remain positive, it was obvious everyone was on edge. Wishing him luck, Hermione tried not let it show on her face how worried she was that this might be the last time she saw him alive.

"Don't think like that!" she scolded herself, as she and Ron found seats next to Neville.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Neville looking at them worriedly, thinking they both looked rather grim and the fact that they were both carrying their wands was rather unusual—especially for a Quidditch match.

"Now, don't forget, it's _Locomotor Mortis,_" Hermione muttered as she held her wand in her sleeve.

"I _know_," snapped Ron. "Don't nag."

Hermione wanted to say something, but decided not to since it could arouse suspicion.

"Hey look! Even Dumbledore came out see Gryffindor win," said Seamus pointing over to where the teachers usually sat.

Hermione let out a huge sigh of relief. Although Snape might try to hurt Harry, he wouldn't dare do anything in front of Professor Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore was near, Harry was safe.

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," muttered Ron next to Hermione. She took her eyes away from Harry to glance at Snape and had to agree with Ron.

"Look – they're off. Ouch!"

Hermione's eyes attempted to stay focused on Harry. She was only paying half-hearted attention to Ron.

Hermione made a face as Snape awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because one of the Weasley twins had hit a Bludger at him. She crossed her fingers in her lap and attentively followed Harry's broomstick with her eyes. Suddenly, Harry dove down in a breathtaking dive which had half the crowd cheering and the other half gasping.

"Ron!" shouted Hermione, "Harry—!"

"What? Where?"

Hermione stood up, holding her breath, not daring to breath. "Come on, Harry! Come on, Harry!" she thought frantically.

"Come on, Harry!" she screamed jumping on top of her seat to cheer him on, oblivious to everything around her.

Hermione held her breath as Harry's hand reached forward and it took her a moment to realize what happened. Harry raised his hand in triumph, he had caught the Snitch!

Hermione and the rest of the crowd erupted. She couldn't believe how short the game was; that had be one of the shortest games in Hogwart's history.

"Ron! Ron!" she shouted excitedly, before realizing he wasn't next to her. "Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" she shrieked, hugging Parvati Patil who was sitting in front of her.

Grabbing Ron, Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors as they stampeded onto the field trying to get to Harry. Not being able to find Harry, Hermione and Ron ran into and congratulated the Weasley twins to were celebrating and retelling Harry's amazing dive with gusto.

"Have you seen Harry?" asked Hermione as they got closer.

Although the twins had huge, triumphed smiles on their faces, their faces changed to alarm as they saw Ron.

"Not since he landed…," answered one of the twins his voice fading off.

"What happened to your face?" asked the other twin.

"Huh?" Ron felt his nose and realized it was bleeding again. "Nothing. Fight with Malfoy," he said wiping his noise on his sleeve.

"Fighting!" exclaimed Hermione alarmed. "Ron, do you know how much trouble you could get in?" she asked with a look of disbelief on her face.

However, her words fell on deaf ears as the twins' faces broke out into identical grins when Ron told them this and they went on into an elaborately humorous speech about how today was one of the greatest days of their Hogwart's career.

As the crowed started to thin out, Hermione thought she heard one of the twins say something about a party in the Gryffindor common room, but she was scanning the crowd for any sign of Harry.

"You don't think Snape did something to him after the game, do you?" she asked Ron as they followed the crowd heading toward the school.

"Nah," said Ron, "not even he's that stupid."

He sounded confident, but the look on his face was one of apprehension.

"Maybe he just wanted to get away from the crowd. He's probably already back at the tower," said Ron trying to make himself feel less nervous about Harry's disappearance.

It only took a moment to realize Harry wasn't in the common room, but it looked like he was the only Gryffindor not in there.

The room was packed with what Hermione was sure was every Gryffindor in every year, and the excitement you could feel in the room was contagious and Ron looked over hungrily at the cakes Fred and George somehow managed to smuggle up into the common room.

"C'mon," said Hermione Ron. "Let's go check the Great Hall."

At the bottom of staircase they ran into Dean and Seamus both had huge smiles on their faces as they excitedly talked about how Gryffindor had won the Quidditch cup.

"Where were you guys?" asked Ron.

"Have you seen Harry by chance?" asked Hermione ignoring Ron's question.

"We brought Neville to Hospital wing," said Seamus with a huge smile on his face.

Hermione looked at them questionably, momentarily forgetting Harry.

"Why…?" began Hermione.

"He tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle by himself. He's a bit roughed up and out cold, but Pomfrey said he'll live," said Seamus.

Hermione looked bewildered.

"Neville got in a fight too?" she thought shocked, "and with Crabbe and Goyle! What was he thinking? Does the Quidditch Cup make all boys act like idiots?"

Hermione brought herself back to the conversation as she heard Harry's name.

Dean, Seamus, and Ron were talking enthusiastically about Ron fighting with Malfoy, and the previous match and comparing it to other famous Quidditch games Hermione had very little knowledge about.

As they parted ways, they said they hadn't seen Harry and Hermione was almost to the point of going to Professor McGonagall when out of the corner of her eye she saw a head of untidy black hair.

"Harry, where have you _been_?" asked Hermione, her voice a bit high pitched.

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back, completely ignoring Hermione. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right—talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff the kitchens."

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this."

He ushered them in an empty classroom and quickly checked for Peeves before closing the door.

"Harry, what…" started Hermione, but Harry interrupted her before she could finish.

"We were right, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he how to get past Fluffy—something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus'. I reckon there are other things guarding the stone— loads of enchantments, probably and Quirrell would've done some anti-Dark Arts spell Snape needs to break through—

Hermione looked at Harry trying to understand as he quickly and breathlessly explained what he supposedly saw after the match. She glanced over at Ron, hoping he would be making better sense of what they were hearing, but judging by the mixture of disbelief and confusion on his face, she doubted it.

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stand up to Snape?" asked Hermione worriedly, attempting to make sense of what Harry was saying.

Harry nodded gravely.

"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," moaned Ron, as they looked at each other helplessly.

Hermione was not sure how long they had been standing there, all thinking about what could happen if Snape managed to get the Stone, but she was sure if they were gone much longer it would look suspicious.

"We'd best get back to the Common Room, before a Professor finds us in here," said Hermione breaking the silence.

Harry and Ron silently agreed with her and quickly checked the hall for Peeves before leaving the classroom.

"We'll just have to help Quirrell however we can," said Harry defiantly as they headed for Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione didn't say anything, but she had a horrible feeling this was not going to be a good idea.

**Author's Note: Hey everybody, hope your enjoying it! Chapter 18 will be uploaded shortly. Thanks for reading. **


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: Enjoy!**

**Chapter 18**

Hermione prepared herself for the following days. She wasn't quite sure _what _she was preparing herself for, but she half expected an announcement to be during class concerning the Stone.

However, when no such announcement had been made, and school continued to be the same as always, Hermione felt a little foolish with how uptight she was being worrying about the stone.

"Stop it!" she scolded herself one afternoon in History of Magic, when she realized she had been thinking about what the consequences would be _if_ Snape somehow managed to get the Stone, rather than listening to Professor Binns. "You're as bad as the boys."

"Besides," she told herself, "I'm sure Dumbledore himself put up enchantments to protect the Stone, and he _is _one of the greatest wizards of time, obviously much more powerful than Snape."

Frowning at her lack of attention, she intently focused on Professor Binns, and although she felt a little reassured knowing Dumbledore more than likely contributed to the safe guarding of the Stone, she could not completely shake the apprehension she felt every time she thought of it. And it didn't stop her or the boys from contributing what little they could.

To up Quirrel's confidence, she would ask extra questions in class, even if she already knew the answer, and Harry and Ron worked extra hard to pay attention in class and to act like they were fascinated with what he was teaching them. She even heard Ron yell at some other students for making fun of his stutter, and every time they passed the third floor corridor they would press their ears against the door, just to make sure Fluffy was still behind it. Over the next days, Hermione still couldn't completely shake the feeling, but as they went on, Hermione started to believe, that maybe the Stone would stay safe.

As the days turned to weeks, and there was still no announcement about the Stone being stolen, and since Snape was still in his typical bad mood, Hermione began to feel even more foolish about worrying about it, and it wasn't long before she had more important things on her mind.

It was during Transfiguration one morning near the end the class, Hermione was copying the last of the instructions Professor McGonagall had written on the board. She happened to glance over at Harry and Ron and shot them an annoyed look since they had decided to play a game rather than finish the notes.

"Remember class, final exams are coming up, and I would _highly _advise everyone to begin studying now— if they would _like_ to pass," she said, her voice stern. Her eyes looked over to Neville, then flickered over to Harry and Ron who were still playing their game, obviously not paying close attention.

Hermione quickly counted the weeks in her head. "_Only 10 weeks away_!" she thought panicked.

"Relax," she told herself quickly. "That's plenty of time to start studying if you begin _now_."

Grabbing a blank sheet of parchment, she began to create a study schedule. "I should probably make one for Harry and Ron, too," she thought as an afterthought. She doubted they even knew what a study schedule looked like, so she might as well.

That night in the Common room after dinner, she collected all her notes and began to organize and color- code them.

"What are you doing?" asked Ron, staring at her as she meticulously began to work on her Charm's notes.

"Getting ready for exams," she replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh! Here," said Hermione, grabbing the study schedules she made up for Harry and Ron and handing them to them without looking up.

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away!" exclaimed Ron.

Hermione looked up at him. "Ten weeks," she snapped. "That's not ages, that's like, a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

Hermione couldn't believe it! Although she couldn't help but inwardly smile that Ron had said that, how could he not see how important these exams were!

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get in to the Second Year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago! I don't know what's gotten into me…" she said rolling her eyes and going back to her notes.

Ron stared at her like she was mental, then looked at Harry who could only shrug.

Although Hermione didn't notice a change in the amount of homework the teachers were giving them over the next few weeks, Harry and Ron sure did, and as the Easter Holidays approached Hermione spent much of her time in the library practicing wand movements, reciting important dates from History of Magic, and memorizing the twelve uses of dragon's blood. Harry and Ron often accompanied her; although she was sure they would rather be doing anything else but studying.

One afternoon, Hermione was switching between organizing her Herbology notes and checking Harry's Transfiguration essay, when Ron angrily burst out.

"I'll never remember this," he said annoyed, as he longingly looked out one of the library's windows. Hermione looked as well. It was a very nice day out, the nicest it has been in months, but Hermione knew that if they had gone outside to study, nothing would ever get accomplished.

Hermione went back to Harry's essay and attempted to ignore Ron.

"Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?" asked Ron surprised as Hagrid came out behind the bookshelves.

Hermione looked up and smiled when she saw him, but was taken aback when she saw him quickly hide something behind his back.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a somewhat suspicious tone, all three of them picked up on immediately.

"An' what're you lot up ter?" he asked looking at them suspiciously. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

Hermione and Harry glanced at each other.

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron. "_And _we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St—"

"_Shhhh!"_ said Hagrid, quickly looking around to see if anyone was listening. Hermione, Harry, and Ron, did the same.

"Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, a bit taken aback by Hagrid harshness, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy—"

"_SHHHHH!_" said Hagrid again. "Listen— come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go blabbin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh—"

"See you later then," said Harry as Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" asked Hermione out- loud.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" asked Harry, his voice getting excited.

Hermione resisted rolling her eyes, but that seemed to be the only logical explanation.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, happily pushing his homework out of the way.

Moments later he returned his arms full of books and slammed them on the table, causing Hermione to glare at him.

"_Dragons!"_ Ron whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons!"

Hermione immediately put away her homework and turned her whole attention to the books Ron had brought over.

"Look at these: _Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide." _

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry, as he grabbed the nearest book and started to leaf through it.

Hermione was fascinated as she skimmed over the pages. She was sure dragons were probably not going to be her favorite topic once she became use to the actuality of dragons being real, but as of now she could hardly wrap her mind around the idea of the most well know mythical creature in the Muggle world was actually real.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron, becoming serious. Hermione assumed it was because he was much more use to the idea of dragons than she was.

"Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that."

"Really?" asked Hermione looking up from the book. Hermione looked at Ron with surprise. She was impressed and somewhat taken aback with how much he seemed to know.

"Well, yeah. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden—anyway, you can't tame dragons, it dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in _Britain?_" said Harry with a doubtful expression on his face.

"Of course there are," said Ron, "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

Hermione's interest only increased more as Ron was talking. Surely Hagrid knew about dragons, especially since it sounded like he'd always been fascinated by them, so why was he studying about them now?

"So what on earth is Hagrid up to?" asked Hermione looking at the boys.

Although Hermione attempted to work a bit more on her notes and she warned Ron and Harry a hundred times if they don't do more now they'd be overwhelmed tomorrow, it was obvious homework was the farthest thing from their minds.

So after many futile attempts, Hermione finally relented, put her stuff away, and they dropped their bags off back at Gryffindor Tower before walking down to Hagrid's hut.

They spoke little on the way down, all three to engrossed in their own thoughts about the connection between Hagrid and the dragon books.

For a fleeting moment Hermione actually thought Hagrid had somehow acquired an actual dragon and was hiding it in his hut.

"Don't be ridiculous," she told herself. "He must know that's illegal. Ron said everyone knew that, and Hagrid wouldn't do something that _foolish_. "

Looking down to his hut, Hermione realized the majority of it was made of wood.

"He must be going on holiday," she decided. It seemed like the most logical explanation.

The first thing they noticed as they knocked on the front door was the curtains on the windows were closed.

"That's odd," thought Hermione.

"Who is it?" asked Hagrid through the door.

"It's us," answered Harry.

Hagrid opened the door and quickly ushered them in, closing it behind them.

The heat wave instantly hit them and Hermione had to take a deep breath. The hut was stifling. It would have been nice in the middle of winter, but it was fairly nice outside and this heat was far from necessary. Hermione hoped they wouldn't be there too long.

She saw Ron pull on his collar and they looked at each other, both with questioning and unsure faces.

Hagrid made tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they all declined.

"So—yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said Harry directly. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone, apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned, "O'course I can't. Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh' know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fre a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts—I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

Hermione knew this was going to go nowhere and she would prefer to be in the heated hut in as short of time as possible. Having an idea she spoke up before Harry could answer.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you _do _know. You know everything that goes on around here," she said in a warm, flattering voice.

Hermione saw Hagrid's beard twitch and she could tell he was smiling.

"We only wondered who had _done_ the guarding, really," Hermione continued. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you, of course."

Hermione smiled sweetly as she saw Hagrid's chest swell with pride at her last words. She felt a little bad about doing this to Hagrid, but she could not help but feel proud of herself as she saw Harry and Ron beam at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that . . . let's see . . . he borrowed Fluffy from me . . . then some o' the teachers did enchantments . . . Professor Sprout—Professor Flitwick—Professor McGonagall—" Hagrid ticked them off on his fingers as the trio listened intently, "Professor Quirrell—an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"_Snape_?" asked Harry stunned.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other.

"That can't be," thought Hermione. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah—yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped _protect_ the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

"If Snape is part of the group of teachers protecting the Stone, then he must know how break through the other enchantments, except for Professor Quirrel's," thought Hermione, glancing over at the boys. She was sure they were thinking the same thing.

Although she knew Harry was happy to learn more about who and what were guarding the Stone, deep down Hermione hoped he didn't become as obsessed with this as he did with Nicholas Flamel. Hermione knew this entire thing was too complex for three students to understand, and besides all that they had to worry about final exams, and she would not let Harry blow off studying for the most important part of his First year to chase after something that was being protected by—she assumed—very advanced enchantments done by very powerful wizards, including Dumbledore himself.

Harry's voice brought Hermione out of her thoughts.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly and assuredly.

"Well, that's something," muttered Harry to Ron and Hermione as he pulled on his collar. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

Hermione was relieved when Harry asked. She wanted to, but feared it would sound too rude.

"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid.

" Wh- Hagrid – what's _that_?" asked Harry, looking over at the fireplace.

Hermione followed his gaze and felt her eyes widen when she spotted the huge, black egg underneath the kettle.

"Oh no," she thought. "It can't be. He wouldn't…", but she had a horrible sinking feeling as she realized she was looking at an actual dragon egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously, "That's – er . . ."

There was no need for him to finish. Everyone knew what it was.

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

Hermione glanced at him, then brought her attention back to the egg. "_What was he thinking_?" she thought frantically.

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" she asked him, hoping he had at least thought this part through.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin', " said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library – _Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ – it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breath on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here," he added excitedly, "how ter recognize diff'rent eggs – what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Hermione could tell he was very pleased with himself, but she couldn't get over the fact that he wasn't looking at some of the most obvious facts.

"Hagrid, you live in a _wooden house,_" she said, hoping he would get the hint.

He didn't, and Hermione realized he wasn't even listening to her as he lovingly stoked the fire humming merrily.

Realizing there was nothing they could say to change his mind, they gave each other disbelieving looks and started back towards the castle for dinner. They didn't speak until they were up in a fairly empty corner of the common room, fearing someone or something would somehow overhear them, especially in the Great Hall. Grabbing their bags they had left next to the table Harry finally asked the question that everyone was thinking.

"What do you think is going to happen?"

Ron shrugged. " I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I hope Hagrid realizes what he's getting himself into," said Ron solemnly . "Dragons are _not _something to mess with."

Hermione wanted to ask what would happen if Hagrid were to get caught, but deciding she would rather not hear the answer she kept quiet.

Although the threat of Hagrid getting caught was almost constantly on her mind, and it seemed like a day couldn't go by without Harry and Ron talking about Snape or the Stone, the professors knew nothing of this and therefore continued to give more homework in preparation for exams.

Occasionally, Hermione felt almost a little resentful towards the whole Hagrid and Sorcerer's Stone mess she was involved in, otherwise she was sure, albeit it being a bit stressful because the material still seemed so new, she would be thoroughly enjoying studying for the exams, color coordinating her notes and organizing all the materials she thought she should study. She had always enjoyed it during her primary school years.

However, she instantly felt ashamed whenever she thought of this. "You enjoyed it in primary school because you didn't have any friends, at least not any true friends," she reminded herself sadly.

Attempting to forget about those thoughts, she went to making more detailed study schedules for Harry and Ron. She knew full well that between Hagrid's dragon, the confusion with the connection between Snape, the Stone, and the other Professors, and with nicer, warmer weather nearly every day, studying was the last thing the boys wanted to do, and she was sure making them a studying schedule would help them prioritize their time. She knew it somewhat annoyed them, but they seemed to be working, so it didn't matter. She was going to continue to do it.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, one evening as they spent another evening doing what seemed like even more homework than in the past few weeks.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Harry was usually pretty good about doing his work, although Hermione wished he would focus more on it, but Ron would spend an hour either staring out the window or doodling over his parchment. "You wouldn't have so much if you would actually work on it rather than stare out the window or pay attention in class," she snapped at him.

Ron glared at her, but she ignored it and went back to listing the different properties of every potion they had completed so far. They didn't talk the rest of the evening.

One day at breakfast, Hermione was touching up a new study schedule for after class when the mail arrived and dropped a letter in front of her. Realizing it was from her parents she excitedly put away the schedule and opened it.

_Dearest Hermione, _

_ We hope everything is going well. As you know we love getting your letters, but we are getting a bit worried as they are becoming very short. We understand you must be busy with preparing for your final exams, but please don't stress yourself out darling, we know you'll do well, and we'll be proud of you no matter what. _

_ I can't remember if we spoke about this earlier or not, but your father and I were thinking about taking a summer holiday to Southern France once school is over. One of our patients just returned from a holiday there and thought it was wonderful. We can use it to celebrate you completing your first year, and to go on a family holiday, but only if you want too, darling. _

_ Please take care of yourself, and don't stress too much. I can hardly wait to start counting down the days until you will be returning home. _

_Love you, Darling. _

_XOXO_

_Mum and Dad_

Hermione instantly felt a wave of guilt hit her. Ever since discovering about Snape wanting to obtain the Stone, mixed with Hagrid's dragon, and the upcoming finals, Hermione's letters to her parents were much shorter and farther in-between than in the beginning of the year.

She didn't want them to worry, and she wouldn't dare put any information about the Stone or the dragon in her letters, just in case it somehow landed in the wrong hands, which therefore, left her little to actually put in her letters, and what she did put in was fairly vague.

She decided that night she would write and long and detailed letter to her parents, even if it meant she would have to make up small details to please them.

Hermione was actually getting excited to write her letter and began thinking about what she would say when Hedwig dropped a letter in front of Harry which put her letter to the back of her mind.

It was from Hagrid, and there were only two words: _It's hatching. _

They all looked at each other and tried to hide their facial expressions to not raise any suspicions as they got up to leave.

"I say we skip Herbology and go straight down," said Ron as they left the Great Hall.

Hermione looked at him appalled. "No!" she said instantly.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" asked Ron.

"We've got lessons," she said like it was the simplest thing to figure out. "We'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing—"

"Shut up!" whispered Harry suddenly.

Hermione looked over at him, but only noticed the anxious look on his face before she turned her attention back to Ron.

"Think about it, what's more important, learning about something we'll probably never use and more than likely forget, or go see an event that few people actually get to witness," said Ron, proud of his argument.

"How do you know you'll never use it? What if it's one the final exam? You'll end up failing it," she argued back.

"It would be a few questions. It doesn't mean I'm going to fail it, and who needs Herbology anyways?"

"Herbology is very important," Hermione argued. "Besides, if we skip class it'll look suspicious and the professors will more than likely start asking questions. Then what?" she snapped, not expecting Ron to have an answer.

Ron didn't say anything for moment and Hermione felt a hint of pride at winning the argument.

"Fine, we'll go to class, but I'm going down there first thing come morning break," said Ron.

"We're suppose to go over the new Charms notes," replied Hermione referring to the study schedule she had created for that week.

"No, _you _can go study the new Charms notes," said Ron, "I'm going to go visit Hagrid."

Hermione glared at him, then turned her attention to Harry, who gave her a look which clearly showed he intended to follow Ron. A bit annoyed, she gave in.

"Fine, we can go down during break," she sighed as they entered class.

Although Hermione couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed with Ron, deep down she had to admit going to go see a dragon hatch would be quite more interesting than studying notes she would be able to study at a later time.

Hermione spent the majority of Herbology between coping down notes for the fill in the blank spaces on the _very_ long review parchment Professor Sprout had handed out, and glaring at Ron, who would copy down a few notes, then become distracted by one of the plants, or Seamus, or even a bug. Occasionally, he would look over at Harry's or Hermione's parchment to see if he missed anything, much to her annoyance.

Although it annoyed her, she continued to let him do it. _Technically, _ it wasn't cheating as it was a review sheet and Professor Sprout had told them that whatever they miss on the review to get from a classmate, and she knew it would save her some time later in the evening when she would have to correct and look over it anyways.

When the bell tolled out ending class and starting break, the trio dropped their equipment and quickly took off. Hermione hoped they didn't look suspicious, but they were too anxious to walk down slowly.

Looking around, they quickly made sure no one was watching them before knocking on his door. Hagrid opened it, looking flushed and excited.

"It's nearly out," he said excitedly, ushering them inside.

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it and something was moving inside. A funny clicking noise was coming from it, and Hermione somewhat flinched every time she heard it, almost expecting the egg to just shatter.

They all drew chairs up to the table and watched, holding their breath and not daring to talk.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open and a baby dragon flopped onto the table. Hermione wasn't sure what she was expecting a baby dragon to look like, but she supposed it looked okay. It wasn't necessarily ugly, but it wasn't cute either as far as baby animals were usually concerned. It somewhat reminded Hermione of a crumpled up black umbrella, with fairly big spiny wings compared to its tiny body; and a long snout with wide nostrils, bright orange eyes, and little stubs where Hermione expected horns would be sprouting.

It sneezed, and a couple of sparks flew out of it's snout, causing Hermione to once again worry about the fact that Hagrid lived in wooden house.

"Isn't he _beautiful_?" Hagrid murmured looking down at it with adoration. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he know his mummy!" Hagrid proudly.

Hermione and Ron and Harry looked at each other with disbelief written on their faces.

"Hagrid, how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?" asked Hermione, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face—he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?" asked Harry never seeing Hagrid react so quickly.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains— it's a kid—he's runnin' back up ter the school."

All three bolted towards the door, but Harry was quickest and looked out. Even at a distance he knew the back of the head.

"It's Malfoy," he said looking back at Ron and Hermione.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other before looking at Harry. No one wanted to think of the consequences if Malfoy was running to tell Snape or Dumbledore.

"M- May- Maybe he didn't see it…" said Ron trying to ease the feeling of dread in the hut, but they all knew that wasn't true.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

The walk back up to the castle was heavy, each them not wanting to talk about what just happened.

"Maybe if we beat Malfoy up or something…" said Ron half heartedly as they were almost to the castle.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but Harry spoke up.

"No, that wouldn't help. I guess we'll just have to wait," said Harry sounding defeated.

Over the next week every time Malfoy saw the trio he had an unpleasant smile across his face and no matter what they did, they could not shake the feeling of nervousness they felt. It didn't help either that the dragon was growing very, very quickly. Most of the time they wound up visiting Hagrid trying to reason with him to somehow get rid of it.

"Just let it go," said Harry one afternoon. "Set him free!"

"I can't!" said Hagrid sorrowfully, "he too little. He'd die."

Hermione could still hardly believe how much it had grown in only a short amount of time. It must've have grown at least three times in length from when it was born, and smoke was constantly coming out of it's nostrils. To make it worse, Hagrid had stopped doing his gamekeeper duties due to the dragon taking up so much of him time. There were constantly empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over his floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid cheerfully.

"Norbert?" Hermione repeated.

Hagrid nodded as he looked down with misty eyes.

"He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ron lean over and whisper something in Harry's ear. She was sure she already knew what he was saying, especially since Hermione was feeling as though Hagrid was losing it as well.

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, to snap Hagrid's attention back to them, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment!"

Hagrid bit his lip.  
" I—I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I- I can't."

Out of the corner of her eye Hermione saw Harry quickly look to Ron.

"Charlie!" he said suddenly.

Hermione tore her gaze away from Norbert to look over at the boys. She was almost scared if she were to look away from it, Norbert would somehow attack.

"You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No—Charlie—you're brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

Hermione looked at them flabbergasted. Did Harry realize what he was saying? Even for the simplest plan it would mean strangers would have to make to Hogwarts unnoticed to collect Norbert, then carry an _illegal_ dragon across _multiple_ countries without getting caught.

The boys were obviously not thinking along the same lines as her as Ron agreed immediately .

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

Hagrid hesitated.

"Come on," said Harry. "He would be taken care of, and you wouldn't get into any trouble."

"Charlie's really good, Hagrid," said Ron. "He knows what he's doing, and he'll be around other dragons."

In the end, Hagrid reluctantly agreed and Harry, Ron and Hermione left for dinner and to write to Charlie asking if he would take it.

**Hope you're enjoying it! **** Chapter 19 on the way. **


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